BEIRUT: A meeting between Lebanese and Israeli military delegations, under US sponsorship, is set to take place at the Pentagon on Friday to launch a new round of security talks between the two sides.
Israel and Hezbollah preempted the meeting by escalating their military operations, though on an uneven scale. On Thursday, Israeli airstrikes struck Beirut’s southern suburbs for the first time since the US-brokered 45-day ceasefire extension agreed in Washington on May 15, targeting a Hezbollah commander.
A Lebanese official source told Arab News that “the military meetings at the US Department of Defense in Washington remain on schedule under American sponsorship and facilitation.”
“Lebanon is prioritizing, in its direct talks with the Israeli side, the establishment of a ceasefire before turning to any broader political or security issues,” the person said.
Over the past 48 hours Israel has expanded its military operations in southern Lebanon and the Bekaa Valley, forcing residents of Tyre and Nabatieh to flee, many of whom were killed as they drove away.
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Israeli evacuation orders in southern Lebanon extended beyond the Zahrani River, about 40 km from the southern border, in what a Lebanese military source said was an effort “to isolate an entire region of the country and strip it of any effective Lebanese state presence, leaving the state unable to reassert its authority there except on Israeli terms.”
Mohammed Khawaja, a member of the Parliamentary National Defense Committee and an Amal Movement lawmaker, said: “Israel is seeking to capitalize on the limited drone attacks launched by Hezbollah toward a number of settlements, despite the vast disparity between those attacks and Israel’s overwhelming military superiority.
“Israel is using this to justify intensifying its strikes on southern Lebanon and to present itself to the international community as the victim, when the true victims are the people of southern Lebanon,” he told Arab News.
Israel claimed it had been given a “green light by the United States to carry out a large-scale ground operation in southern Lebanon, extending as far as the Bekaa Valley,” without indicating any timeline for bringing the operation to an end, Khawaja said.
Political negotiations are set to resume on Saturday, provided the military talks succeed in securing a ceasefire. The Lebanese delegation consists of six officers headed by Brig. Gen. Georges Rizkallah, the Lebanese army’s director of operations.
“Israel is seeking to widen the yellow zone it had previously designated for its operations and I believe the military escalation will not stop unless Israel commits to a ceasefire,” Khawaja said.
“Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri has repeatedly affirmed that if a ceasefire is reached he would be able to persuade Hezbollah to halt its operations.”
Reviewing the latest Israeli advances, the Lebanese military source said: “Israeli forces crossed the Litani River and advanced toward Zawtar al-Gharbiya and Zawtar al-Sharqiya, while remotely operated vehicles were deployed toward Mayfadoun, a town overlooking Nabatieh, and toward Shoukin, another elevated position overlooking the city.
“They are also pushing toward Yahmar and Arnoun in the direction of Beaufort Castle (Qalaat al-Shaqif), one of the most strategically significant positions in the area as it overlooks vast stretches of the south, including Mount Rihan, the Iqlim al-Tuffah region, the Khardali road, Kfar Tebnit and Ali al-Taher.
“These areas are considered to be under Hezbollah’s control and contain its military positions. All of them are elevated hills overlooking the Awali River and form Hezbollah’s third line of defense. They cannot be taken except through a flanking maneuver from the Western Bekaa Valley, which would encircle the south and completely isolate it from the Bekaa.”
Fadi Karam, a lawmaker with the Lebanese Forces party and member of the Parliamentary Defense Committee, said that the war in the south was aimed at derailing negotiations.
“We must remember that Hezbollah, Iran’s proxy opposing Lebanese-Israeli talks, was the party that ignited this conflict. Iran wants to use Lebanon as a bargaining chip in its negotiations with the US,” he told Arab News.
“It is not in Israel’s interest for Hezbollah to use negotiations as cover for attacks against it. Israel separates developments on the ground from what takes place at the negotiation table, while the Lebanese state and people remain caught between the interests of the Revolutionary Guards and Israeli aggression.”
At the Pentagon meetings, the Lebanese side is expected to focus on securing the ceasefire before engaging in any discussions on security arrangements, given the ongoing escalation on the ground.
The Lebanese Army Command said that “addressing security arrangements before a ceasefire is reached would practically give Tel Aviv leverage to impose its conditions.”
The military source expressed concern that “Israel is unlikely to accept restrictions on its military operations in southern Lebanon and will insist on preserving freedom of movement under the pretext of preventing Hezbollah from regrouping or rebuilding its capabilities.”
The official Lebanese source said that “during intensive contacts between President Joseph Aoun and the US, Washington reaffirmed that Beirut, the southern suburbs, infrastructure, state institutions and Beirut International Airport would remain spared from the new Israeli escalation, with the exception of assassination operations targeting Hezbollah leaders.”
The Lebanese military delegation is a technical negotiating team not originally envisaged in the talks. According to the official source, it is acting on instructions from Aoun that “the absolute priority remains in securing a ceasefire and halting the destruction of southern towns and villages, as Lebanon cannot negotiate under fire while Israel disregards all constraints.”
Lebanon’s Ambassador to the US Simon Karam is leading the delegation in a diplomatic and military capacity, reflecting a unified political and security negotiating track.
The official source said that “any attempt to raise the issue of placing weapons under state control before securing Israeli withdrawal could trigger a domestic political crisis, with potential security repercussions, as the Lebanese government is seeking to address the issue within a comprehensive sovereign state rather than through an Israeli security framework.”
Mehiedine Chehimi, a professor of international law and foreign policy at the Paris School of Business and Graduate Studies, said: “We must distinguish between two types of truce.
“The first is the current arrangement that prevents Israel from targeting official institutions and the capital, except for assassinations. This condition has been respected by Israel since the 2024 ceasefire agreement. The second is a truce aimed at halting hostilities in southern Lebanon, which is rejected by Israel because it would give Hezbollah an opportunity to rebuild its capabilities.
“This shows that the US and Israel deal differently with the Lebanese state and Hezbollah.
“The Lebanese state is trying, through negotiations, to restore sovereignty through direct talks and to ensure that Lebanon is not used as a bargaining chip in the hands of others to negotiate on its behalf,” he told Arab News.
He described the continuation of Lebanese negotiations despite Hezbollah’s rejection as “difficult negotiations, but they will continue despite the current military situation, which is expected to intensify.”
“Israel’s ambitions and criminality know no limits. The good thing is that the American side has drawn boundaries for Israel,” Chehimi said.
“On the other hand, Hezbollah has lost everything and is no longer the party we knew before the war. It has become a branch of the Revolutionary Guard and Naim Qassem is merely its spokesperson, carrying out the Revolutionary Guard’s orders. This is where the danger lies, as the decision-making has now fallen into Tehran’s hands.
“Hezbollah is currently trying to prove its superiority inside Lebanon in order to keep Lebanon as a pressure card serving Iranian interests. The party takes no account of its environment, its people or their losses,” he said.
"Meanwhile, the Israelis continue escalating their crimes because they are no longer convinced by the solutions that were previously tried. Today they want to crush Hezbollah. Caught between these two dangers, Lebanon is descending into a state of chaos.”
Chehimi said that overcoming the impasse required the Lebanese state to “benefit from Islamabad’s mediation in order to continue its path of direct negotiations with Israel, while exerting pressure through the international community on both the Israeli and Iranian sides.”
More than 3,270 people, many of them women and children, have been killed and almost 10,000 injured since the war started on March 2. The attacks have targeted 16 hospitals.
Abdul Rahman Bizri, a lawmaker for the city of Sidon, warned of the “social repercussions of the military escalation in the south and the danger posed by the sharp political division.”
“The Lebanese government must contain the social and economic repercussions of the war,” he told Arab News.
“Large numbers of displaced people are seeking refuge in Sidon and require a real plan. The population density in Sidon has exceeded three times its normal rate, which is directly affecting daily life in the city.”
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz on Thursday threatened to avenge the death of soldier Rotem Yanai, 20, who was “killed during an operational activity in northern Israel,” claiming that “Hezbollah has paid, is paying and will continue to pay a heavy price for its attacks against Israel and its citizens.”
A number of Israeli personnel have been killed in Lebanon since the ceasefire began on April 17. The Israeli government spokesperson said that 24 of them were killed in Hezbollah’s recent attacks using explosive drones.
