Following US-mediated talks: Israel and Lebanon agree to ceasefire, Hezbollah evacuation

A trilateral summit convened by the United States in Washington has resulted in a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Lebanon, following intensive two-day negotiations on Tuesday and Wednesday.

A joint statement issued following the second day of talks on Wednesday stated that the accord dictates that the implementation of the truce is directly "contingent on a complete cessation of Hezbollah fire and the evacuation of all Hezbollah operatives from the South Litani Sector".

To enforce the peace, Israel and Lebanon agreed to "swiftly advance the creation of pilot zones in which the Lebanese Armed Forces will take exclusive control of the territory to the exclusion of all non-state actors". These stabilization steps are designed to lay the groundwork for "progress towards a comprehensive peace and security agreement".

In a direct rebuke to external interference, the United States, Israel, and Lebanon "rejected any attempt, by any state or non-state actor, to hold Lebanon’s future hostage," while affirming that bilateral relations "must be decided by the two sovereign governments".

Message from Jim Robinson:

Dear FRiends,

We need your continuing support to keep FR funded. Your donations are our sole source of funding. No sugar daddies, no advertisers, no paid memberships, no commercial sales, no gimmicks, no tax subsidies. No spam, no pop-ups, no ad trackers.

If you enjoy using FR and agree it's a worthwhile endeavor, please consider making a contribution today:

Click here: to donate by Credit Card

Or here: to donate by PayPal

Or by mail to: Free Republic, LLC - PO Box 9771 - Fresno, CA 93794

Thank you very much and God bless you,

Jim

Hezbollah will not cooperate.

Needless to say, but that's not the real question, which is: Is Lebanon capable of enforcing this agreement? Can they physically confiscate Hezbollah's offensive weapons?

Obviously, if they can, that would be preferable, but if not, one wonders what the point is of this series of "peace dances." Trump isn't gaining any strength out of them and neither is Israel. It's over 2-1/2 years since October 7. What is the end game objective?

It’s all words and prolific niceties. Hezbollah’s main purpose in death, (not life) is to control Lebanon so it can constantly attack Israel from this common border.
Lebanon has no authority to make peace with Israel so long as Iran’s proxies destroy Lebanon or force Israel top destroy Lebanon.
This is a sad joke. Just as the West said HAMAS must disarm in Gaza...so too Hezbollah should disarm or withdraw.

IT AIN’T GONNA HAPPEN FOLKS.

These nut jobs live to kill or be killed. Call it an Islamic Life choice.

Expecting this force to clear “all Hezbollah operatives” from the South Litani and then hold exclusive zones is therefore not policy; it is theater. The same soldiers and officers who share communal ties, family networks, and in many cases direct sympathies with Hezbollah are being asked to treat their own political and religious kin as foreign occupiers to be expelled. Some will obey orders grudgingly and minimally. Others will leak plans, look the other way, or actively undermine the effort. The army’s cohesion would fracture long before Hezbollah’s military infrastructure did. Lebanon’s confessional political system guarantees the outcome: any serious attempt to disarm or marginalize Hezbollah risks being framed—and experienced—as an attack on the Shia community itself, with the predictable result of mutiny, desertion, or civil breakdown.

Lebanon’s parliament and bureaucracy compound the impossibility. Hezbollah and its allies do not merely participate in the system; they hold structural veto power. The speakership has functioned as an Amal-Hezbollah preserve for decades. Parliamentary walkouts and quorum denial have repeatedly paralyzed governments that threatened the group’s interests. Cabinet participation gives Hezbollah ministers and the ability to collapse coalitions when displeased. The bureaucracy, especially in the security sector, carries the same sectarian imprint and infiltration documented in military intelligence and General Security. These are not neutral administrators who will faithfully execute orders to strip Hezbollah of its weapons and territorial control. They are part of the same web of patronage, intimidation, and ideological alignment that has allowed Hezbollah to maintain a state-within-a-state for a generation.

Is this the SLA and Haddad 2.0

They were somewhat effective

But I doubt this means that

Lebanon is about an even mix Shia Sunni and Christian and five to eight percent Druze etc

Good luck fellows

Can they physically confiscate Hezbollah’s offensive weapons?
_______________________________________________________________

If they Lebanese Plastic Green toy soldiers try to seriously take away Hezbollah’s weapons, it means yet another civil war though not like in 1976.
This is far too complex to even contemplate for the Lebanese so-called government and people. The status quo is terrible but they are petrified from another civil war.

Please correct me if someone out there thinks this is incorrect.
Thanks.

Quote- the Lebanese Armed Forces will take exclusive control of the territory to the exclusion of all non-state actors..

Since the 2006 war....twenty years ago, disarm Hizbullah
disarm Hizbullah and move all of them up north etc. Who is going to do that? The Lebanese Armed Forces?

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.