Lebanese authorities demand sovereignty protection in talks with Israel
Filippo Dionigi, a senior lecturer of international relations at the University of Bristol, has told Al Jazeera that Lebanese authorities are demanding a monitoring mechanism as part of ceasefire talks with Israel.
The monitoring mechanism would be composed of the Lebanese army, UN peacekeepers and potentially other countries – such as the US or France – to guarantee the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1701, he said.
Israeli strikes on Beirut ‘simply a game’ to derail ceasefire talks
At about 4am local time, just about four or five hours ago, we saw a powerful series of strikes on the Basta neighbourhood here in central Beirut.
It destroyed this one multistorey building and caused a large amount of damage to the blocks of flats surrounding it. This is a very population-dense area and it marks at least the fourth Israeli strike this week carried out in central Beirut.
There’s a great deal of speculation that this was yet another targeted assassination of some senior Hezbollah leader. There’s been no confirmation either way, but this does fit a pattern: multiple strikes, no warning, on an area that is densely populated with missiles meant to penetrate deeply.
Every time that Israel approaches any sort of breakthrough, or the United States … approaches some kind of breakthrough with another party, Israel undermines those talks with a series of strikes carrying out targeted killings of senior members.
And it really goes along with the sentiment here in Beirut. People say that these ceasefire talks are simply a game. Simply Israel playing games. Not just with Palestinians, Not just with the Lebanese. But also with the United States, undermining its closest ally.
Whenever they come to a breakthrough, they undermine the talks with an uptick in violence and the targeted killing of people that by all accounts they should be talking to.
Israel seeks to maximise military leverage in Lebanon before Trump takes office
The Israeli military’s latest ground push and air strikes in Lebanon show it is trying to take out as many top Hezbollah leaders as possible and maximise its leverage in future negotiations, says Luciano Zaccara, a professor of Gulf politics at the Qatar University Gulf Studies Center.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been trying to delay any ceasefire until US President-elect Donald Trump assumes power – a strategy that has paid off, Zaccara told Al Jazeera.
“I think Netanyahu’s trying to push as far as possible before Trump arrives to power … then I think it might be the time he decides to start negotiating, but with a much better position on the ground,” he said.
Ultimately, totally rooting out Hezbollah, which is deeply connected with Lebanese society and politics, is “most likely impossible” so “strategically speaking, the military option is not the solution for Israel”, Zaccara added. “They need to sit down and negotiate something.”
