Launching major Israeli op. against Hezbollah 'strategic mistake'
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Axios reports, citing sources, that Washington and four European allies hope the proposed steps to diffuse tensions on the Lebanon-Palestine border would prevent an all-out war.
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Israeli occupation soldiers stand behind a flag of the Lebanese Resistance party, Hezbollah, planted in the Lebanese town of Mays al-Jabal, South Lebanon, on December 13, 2018 (AFP)
As regional tensions rise and global public pressure increases on the United States and "Tel Aviv" to stop the genocide in Gaza, Israelis find themselves running against the clock to secure any military achievement related to their war objectives, after four months of fighting without being able to attain any.
In a report published on Tuesday, Axios revealed that Washington and four of its European partners are looking to reach an agreement that could ease escalations between the Israeli occupation and Hezbollah, who had launched operations in support of Gaza directly following Operation Al-Aqsa Flood last October.
Read more: Threat Hezbollah poses terrible, attacks taking place daily: JP
Citing sources, the news site said the understandings pushed forward by the US, UK, France, Germany, and Italy would include a "series of commitments" by Israelis and the Lebanese Resistance.
Washington had repeatedly expressed concerns that the occupation would be unable to fight simultaneously on two fronts, while also claiming that it did not want the "conflict to expand in the region."
Meanwhile, in the past few weeks, the US saw itself being further directly involved in a war in the region after refusing to stop the Israeli aggression on Gaza, with American fighter jets bombing sites in Syria, Iraq, and Yemen.
With intensifying escalations on the Lebanese-Palestinian border, especially after the Israeli assassination of Hamas Resistance leader Sheikh Saleh al-Arouri and the growing Yemeni operations in the Red Sea, the US is trying to contain the front with Hezbollah, for the sake of "Israel", before the situation goes out of hand and turns into a wider war.
Read more: War with Hezbollah to be without constraints: Sayyed Nasrallah
Worried about the heating events, US officials conveyed to "Israel" that they acknowledge its capacity to inflict significant damage on Lebanon. However, they believe that initiating a substantial military campaign against Hezbollah would be a strategic error, according to the source with knowledge of the matter.
According to Axios, Washington seeks understandings between Hezbollah and the occupation entity to ensure that the fighting stops.
In that pursuit, US President Joe Biden's trusted envoy Amos Hochstein made a trip last week to "Israel" and met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Security Minister Yoav Gallant to discuss his proposal for a new border status quo.
The proposal, as per the report, is based on the 1996 "Grapes of Wrath" draft declared then by the US and other countries to end an Israeli aggression on Lebanon.
The countries involved would not officially sign the new understandings, but the agreements would detail the commitments of both parties in a statement.
Economic benefits for Lebanon will also be announced by the five powers if understandings are reached, sources told Axios.
Read more: Hezbollah says US strikes on Syria, Iraq aggravating regional conflict
The expected agreements are likely to revolve around the partial implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which marked the end of the Israel war on Lebanon in 2006.
Instead, they would require Hezbollah to move its fighters only approximately eight to 10 kilometers away from the Palestinian border, according to the sources.
The core principle underlying these agreements is a "freezing in place" principle, meaning that Hezbollah won't have to withdraw its forces entirely but will commit to refraining from sending them back to the border areas where they were positioned before October 7.
The Lebanese army would also deploy 10,000 to 12,000 troops to the border region, as per the sources' information.
On the other hand, the US would request for "Israel" to halt its fighter jets' overflights in Lebanese airspace, and "Israel" has not rejected this request.
Under this proposal, "Israel" would also commit to reducing some of the forces, primarily reservists, that it has gathered along the border in the past four months.
Hezbollah's operations since October have led hundreds of thousands of settlers to flee border settlements, warning their government that they would not return unless the Resistance's "threat" is resolved and calling out their authorities for failing to protect them or provide them with the needed security.
Read more: Settlers are frantic, Hezbollah rockets earth-shaking: Israeli media
Having succeeded with its plans to place huge pressure on "Tel Aviv" in response to its brutal war on Gaza, Hezbollah has conditioned ending the aggression on the Strip to end its operations against Israeli forces.
Falling under unprecedented crises and seeking to return Israelis to their settlements, the occupation entity warned that border calm would be restored either through diplomatic means or through a military operation.
Contradicting all previous media reports, the source told Axios that "Israel" did not plan to launch a war on Lebanon in January.
However, the outlet said, citing sources, that "Tel Aviv" was concerned that the Resistance in Lebanon would be the party initiating an operation, adding that it took time for the Israeli Security Minister to convince Hochstein that the entity was truly interested in a diplomatic solution.
