Peace, truce, or stalemate? Lebanon’s debate over negotiations with Israel deepens

Report by Bassam Abou Zeid, English adaptation by Karine Keuchkerian

Talks have recently intensified in Lebanon about the possibility of negotiations with Israel. But opinions are deeply divided: some reject the idea entirely, others accept it only if a third party is involved, some insist the talks be limited to military officers without the participation of diplomats or politicians, and others agree on the condition that the two delegations not sit in the same room.

The key question, however, is whether Israel truly wants to sit down with the official Lebanese government — a government that so far has proven unable even to stop a Hezbollah gathering in Beirut’s Raoucheh area.

Lebanon’s authorities have also failed to set a timeline for implementing the disarmament clause in the ceasefire agreement that Hezbollah accepted nearly a year ago.

This reality raises another question: Will Israel negotiate directly with Hezbollah?

Nothing suggests that. Israel’s main demand remains clear — the elimination of Hezbollah, whose military capabilities have been severely weakened and whose fighters continue to be targeted daily. Nearly 300 of its members have been killed since the ceasefire agreement.

Israel continues to strike bulldozers and construction equipment, and its drones remain constantly present in Lebanon’s skies, 24/7.

So, what interest does Israel have in negotiating with Lebanese authorities? What could these authorities offer Israel that it cannot take itself?

As usual, Lebanese politicians keep the public occupied with terms like “negotiations,” “truce agreement,” or “peace deal,” even though they know Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s main goal: to eliminate the threat of Iran and its proxies from the region once and for all — even if that means maintaining the current situation for years or launching a major regional war in an attempt to reach a permanent peace with Iran first, and then with the rest of its allied states.