{"id":515427,"date":"2026-06-28T18:04:10","date_gmt":"2026-06-28T18:04:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/515427\/"},"modified":"2026-06-28T18:04:10","modified_gmt":"2026-06-28T18:04:10","slug":"does-the-new-israel-lebanon-agreement-have-a-chance-at-success","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/515427\/","title":{"rendered":"Does the new Israel-Lebanon agreement have a chance at success?"},"content":{"rendered":"

A new agreement between Israel and Lebanon<\/a>, backed by a US guarantee, makes clear that Israel will withdraw from southern Lebanon only after Hezbollah has been removed from the area.<\/p>\n

The deal follows days of regional diplomatic developments, including a memorandum of understanding between Washington and Tehran and the US acknowledgment of Iran\u2019s involvement in Lebanon<\/a>.<\/p>\n

At first glance, this condition may seem obvious. But when viewed against Iran\u2019s demand that any future comprehensive agreement with the US should also require the IDF to leave southern Lebanon, the significance of this achievement comes into focus.<\/p>\n

Israel\u2019s Ambassador to the United States, Yechiel Leiter, headed the Israeli delegation alongside representatives from the National Security Council. They were joined by Brig.-Gen. Amichai Levin, who represented IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Eyal Zamir during the talks.<\/p>\n

Under the deal negotiated in Washington, Israel agreed to withdraw from two areas in southern Lebanon that will be taken over by the Lebanese Army as pilot zones where it will aim to implement plans to disarm Hezbollah within the next few weeks.<\/p>\n

\"IDFIDF troops operating in the Litani River area in Lebanon for first time in over two decades. November 26, 2024. (credit: IDF SPOKESPERSON’S UNIT)Both sides had demands that went unmet<\/p>\n

While the IDF presented maps outlining potential withdrawal lines and areas where a withdrawal could be discussed, Israel\u2019s political leadership worked to determine what the government in Beirut could realistically accept.<\/p>\n

Lebanon sought a much broader Israeli withdrawal<\/a>, extending inside the Yellow Line \u2013 a demand that was ultimately not included in the agreement.<\/p>\n

At the same time, not all of the IDF\u2019s demands were accepted either. Nevertheless, defense officials believe the final agreement adequately addresses Israel\u2019s operational and security requirements.<\/p>\n

The agreement also revived the Israeli-Lebanese monitoring mechanism, which operates under the supervision of US Central Command (CENTCOM) to oversee and document violations on the ground.<\/p>\n

This mechanism had been active since November 2024, with Israel regularly documenting Hezbollah violations. When those violations went unaddressed, Israel acted independently.<\/p>\n

This does not mean Israel will be free to strike Beirut or conduct unrestricted military operations across Lebanon whenever there are indications that Hezbollah is attempting to rearm.<\/p>\n

However, the fact that every violation will now be formally documented under the supervision of CENTCOM enables Israel to establish a benchmark for evaluating the Lebanese Armed Forces, specifically, whether they are genuinely acting against Hezbollah.<\/p>\n

No withdrawal south of the Litani unless Hezbollah fully withdraws first<\/p>\n

For Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu<\/a>, Defense Minister Israel Katz, and Zamir, one red line remained non-negotiable: There would be no Israeli withdrawal from areas south of the Litani River unless Hezbollah had fully withdrawn north of the river and the area was completely demilitarized.<\/p>\n

That principle was ultimately enshrined in writing in a document approved by senior US administration officials.<\/p>\n

This agreement betrays modest but optimistic expectations.<\/p>\n

Since the ceasefire agreement signed in November 2024, there has been little evidence that the Lebanese Army has taken meaningful action against Hezbollah. This time, however, sustained American pressure and oversight may produce a different outcome.<\/p>\n

What is certain is that the process begins with the IDF maintaining control over extensive areas that provide greater protection for Israel\u2019s northern communities.<\/p>\n

Even if the pilot program fails, the IDF is expected to remain on the ground until the Lebanese Army \u2013 and the Lebanese government, which says it is committed to confronting Hezbollah \u2013 take the actions that both Washington and Jerusalem expect of them.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A new agreement between Israel and Lebanon, backed by a US guarantee, makes clear that Israel will withdraw…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":515428,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[47994,86,102448,85,46,81925,73199,88,89,43],"class_list":["post-515427","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-israel","tag-centcom","tag-hezbollah","tag-hezbollah-iran","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-israel-and-lebanon","tag-israel-lebanon-war","tag-lebanon","tag-lebanon-war","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/515427","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=515427"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/515427\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/515428"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=515427"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=515427"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=515427"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}