Israeli attacks in southern Lebanese villages will continue until Hezbollah disarms, US ambassador to Lebanon Michel Issa said on Friday.
“They’ll stop when it’s time to stop. Tell Hezbollah that as soon as it hands over its weapons, everything will stop,” Mr Issa said after meeting Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri.
His comments came a day after Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam condemned what he called Israeli “attacks, incursions, and systematic bulldozing and destruction” of homes, residential neighbourhoods, infrastructure, government buildings and places of worship in south Lebanon.
“Claiming that entire villages and towns – with their homes, neighbourhoods, government offices, public facilities, places of worship, and infrastructure – are ‘military facilities’ is a claim that defies any logic and cannot serve as cover for their destruction, the displacement of their inhabitants, or preventing them from returning to them,” Mr Salam said.
Mr Issa’s remarks followed a two-day visit to Lebanon with senior Centcom officer Lt-Gen Joseph Clearfield, during which the two met with Lebanon’s political and military leaders in an effort to revive stalled negotiations between Lebanon and Israel.
The delegation met President Joseph Aoun and Army commander Brig Gen Rodolph Haykal, as well as other Lebanese officials, as the US seeks to move the framework agreement forward. In addition to Israeli violations, discussions focused on the establishment of a mechanism that would, under Lt Gen Clearfield’s oversight, conduct verification of the pilot zones in which Hezbollah is meant to disarm and Israel withdraw, while the Lebanese army assumes control.
Mr Issa told reporters on Friday that a shortlist of candidates for the verification mechanism was discussed, although no decisions were yet made. “We’ve discussed it with a few countries, but we haven’t decided on the team’s composition yet. There’s a shortlist for sure,” he said.
The latest round of talks in Rome had yielded little practical progress. While they took place in early August, Israeli forces issued forced displacement orders for residents of the village of Al Mansouri and launched a campaign of air strikes on several areas in south Lebanon after accusing Hezbollah of breaching the ceasefire agreement. The US military delegation’s visit to Lebanon this week aimed in part at addressing the obstacles to moving the talks forward.
But Lt Gen Clearfield’s arrival with Mr Issa coincided with intensified Israeli attacks and bulldozing operations in south Lebanon, particularly focused on the area near the Ali Al Taher ridge overlooking the city of Nabatieh, which remains under Lebanon's control.
Mr Issa nevertheless said the negotiations in Rome were continuing and described the atmosphere as “positive”, with the next round set to take place in early September.
The strategically important Ali Al Taher ridge has increasingly emerged as a potential flashpoint in the negotiations. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has alluded to preparations for further military action there, accusing Hezbollah of stocking weapons in the area.
In June, Israel launched a major operation around Ali Al Taher, with Israeli forces surrounding and isolating the area. Hezbollah denied Israel’s claim that it had seized the ridge.
The result is an increasingly stark disconnect between the diplomatic track and developments on the ground: the US seeks to advance a process built around Hezbollah’s disarmament and the Lebanese Army’s deployment, while Lebanon’s government is publicly demanding that Israel halt the military campaign. Meanwhile, Israel appears to be strengthening its position on the ground.
Hezbollah, for its part, has repeatedly criticised the US-mediated framework deal between Israel and Lebanon, as well as the multiple rounds of negotiations that have come before and after it.
The group's leader Naim Qassem reiterated that criticism in a speech on Friday night, describing the framework as “Israeli dictates that had led to the occupation of Al Mansouri”. Israel has gradually tightened its grip on Al Mansouri, to the south of the port city of Tyre, despite it initially being outside their full control.
Mr Qassem, who was speaking to mark 20 years since the end of the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah war, criticised the government and questioned what it had achieved.
