US Central Command chief Adm Brad Cooper arrived in Lebanon on Monday as political divisions deepened across the country over the government’s agreement to a US-brokered deal with Israel aimed at ending hostilities with Hezbollah.
Adm Cooper, the most senior US military officer in the region who is overseeing the war with Iran, travelled from Israel to Lebanon to discuss the implementation of monitoring and verifying Hezbollah’s disarmament in so-called “pilot” zones occupied by the Israeli military, as outlined in the security annexe to the trilateral framework signed in Washington on Friday.
The Centcom chief's first meeting was with Lebanese Armed Forces commander Gen Rodolphe Haykal, during which they discussed the first stages of the agreement, under which Israel would hand over two areas it occupies should the disarmament prove successful. He later met President Joseph Aoun, who reaffirmed Lebanon's determination to "extend its authority through its armed forces all the way to the international southern borders", according to a statement from the Lebanese Presidency.
“The successful implementation of each phase is subject to verification mechanisms stipulated in the security annexe,” said retired Brigadier General Mounir Shehadeh. “The decision does not rest solely with Lebanon but also with the monitoring body, the US and in co-ordination with Israel, according to the agreement's mechanisms. There are worries that any Israeli objection could suspend the withdrawal.”
One of the two areas to be handed over is north of the Litani river in Zawtar Al Gharbiyeh, near the historical Beaufort Castle. The other lies south of the river, near Froun – although residents say this area is not under Israeli occupation.
While the government has sought to portray the accord as a major step towards the Lebanese state establishing control over its territory, detractors have painted it as anything but.
The framework “links Israeli withdrawal to disarmament, rather than the other way around”, according to Brig Gen Shehadeh. He characterised the agreement as a “reversal of the original demand” that Israel withdraw from Lebanese territory.
Israel’s withdrawal is conditional on the verification of the Lebanese army’s disarmament of Hezbollah in so-called pilot zones that would eventually see the Lebanese state take full control of the areas. If successful, the plan would then be expanded, allowing for the return of displaced residents to their villages in the south.
“The withdrawal is not an immediate or unconditional commitment, but rather contingent upon complex Lebanese steps,” Brig Gen Shehadeh said.
Critics of the deal have also highlighted Israel’s track record of not honouring its commitments in previous ceasefires with Hezbollah.
Protests erupted in Lebanon immediately after the framework agreement was signed. Opponents view it as, in effect, a surrender deal – one that enables Israel’s occupation to continue indefinitely as the Lebanese army tries to avoid the civil strife that could erupt if disarmament is pursued under Israeli military pressure. Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem rejected the framework on Saturday and the group’s supporters staged protests to condemn it.
Nabih Berri, Lebanon's powerful Parliament Speaker, warned of “sedition” and said the framework “will not pass in its current form”. Mr Berri's Amal Movement, an ally of Hezbollah, has warned that the deal would fracture the country further, something he has sought to avoid in recent months by shelving controversial legislation.
A particular source of anger among detractors has been article 13 of the text, which states that Israel and Lebanon “commit to take good faith measures that demonstrate positive intent, including the cessation of all hostile or adverse actions in international political or legal fora”. It has been perceived in Lebanon as absolving Israel of the litany of war crimes for which it has been held responsible over the years.
Halime El Kaakour, an independent Lebanese MP and an expert in international law, described Article 13 as “enshrining impunity, striking down justice for thousands of victims of war crimes and violations of international humanitarian law, and depriving Lebanon of a major financial compensation file as a result of these crimes”.
“Do you not realise that there is no peace without justice?” she said in a statement addressed to President Aoun and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam. Although MPs such as Ms El Kaakour, who is normally supportive of the government, have strongly criticised the deal, there are no suggestions of an imminent government collapse.
Illustrating that anger, billboards bearing the slogan “Lebanon First” along Beirut’s airport road were burnt and defaced on Sunday. They had replaced earlier signs that read “Thank you, Iran,” a reference to Tehran’s support for Hezbollah and Lebanon — signs that were taken down by order of the Interior Ministry.
Critics of Hezbollah and Iran have widely hailed the framework agreement despite uncertainty over whether it can be properly implemented.
“Realistically, it is extremely difficult,” said Brig Gen Shehadeh. The underfunded and underequipped Lebanese army faces three challenges – military and logistical, financial, and disarming Hezbollah – without inciting a civil conflict, he added. “Implementing the agreement in its current form faces more political obstacles than military ones,” he said.
The agreement has been welcomed by political groups opposed to Hezbollah such as the Lebanese Forces party, which has strong relations with the West and Gulf states while also being a vocal critic of Iran and its influence over Lebanon.
Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea described the move as the “most significant political step taken by the Lebanese state” in half a century. He said it was the “greatest opportunity” Lebanon had to leave this period behind and threw his support behind the President and Prime Minister. He said they were empowered to make such decisions by the fact that Mr Aoun had been democratically elected by parliament and that the legislature had twice shown confidence in Mr Salam's government.
“The current government has likewise received Parliament’s vote of confidence on two occasions, with support approaching two-thirds of the members elected by the Lebanese people,” he said.
The LF-led bloc heaped pressure on the government last year for not being firm enough in its plan to disarm Hezbollahand lambasted the group for firing on Israel in early March following the Israeli assassination of Iran’s then-supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
