This morning (Tuesday), Yediot Achronot' s Nadav Eyal wrote that an ‘agreement is taking shape’. He was talking, of course, about an agreement between Israel and Lebanon.
According to the agreement, which is in the "advanced formation stages", the IDF will begin to redeploy to other areas, meaning that most of the soldiers will leave Lebanon. It is possible that Israel will remain in tactically significant points on the Lebanese side and along the border, until a final agreement is reached.
The proposed agreement between Israel, Lebanon, the USA and other countries includes three components.
The first is the implementation of Resolution 1701– one that will ensure that there will be no armed Hezbollah presence south of the Litani River, as well as a significant removal in the Metula area.
The Lebanese army is to be deployed along the northern border In large numbers, between 5,000 and 10,000 fighters. The current UNIFIL force will be strengthened, perhaps by replacing some of its battalions with French, British and German battalions.
The second component is the establishment of an international enforcement and supervision mechanism, to which the parties can report violations – a mechanism that was a fundamental requirement of the security establishment from the beginning of the war.
Israel says that an agreement was reached with the US that if Hezbollah's violation was discovered, such as the construction of a military infrastructure south of the Litani River, and it was not dealt with by the Lebanese Army and UNIFIL as soon as possible, Israel would act alone and continuously to remove the threats.
As part of the negotiations, Israel requested that US President Joe Biden send a letter emphasizing Israel's right to self-defense, so that it would be clear that the IDF may remove threats it detects. American officials did not respond to questions on the matter.
The third element of the emerging agreement is the prevention of the rearming of Hezbollah, as part of the understandings that will end the war. This is about preventing the entry of military means that will be defined as "forbidden" - from the air, sea and land.
Russia has expressed willingness to assist in the implementation of the agreement, and it is supposed to play a role in stabilizing the sector in Lebanon and Syria.
"The Russians will have a special status in implementing the agreement and preventing further escalation," said a foreign source.
Moshe Davidovich, head of the Asher Regional Council and chairman of the Line of Conflict Forum, also responded to the reports and said: "I do not interfere with the IDF in its military considerations, but the real threat to our residents has not been removed! There is direct firing of anti-tank missiles at the settlements on the fence and it is still happening. Any agreement that is made should take into account the safety of the residents. There is a blatant violation of the 1701 agreement and we will not be able to return residents to their homes unless there is full security control by the IDF between the Litani [River] and our border."
"We will not be bought with money that will run out quickly. Do not return until we tell you to return and not one minute before," the mayor told the residents of Kiryat Shmona and asked them to be united, not to be tempted by money and not to return to the city at this stage.
