Netanyahu demanded Hezbollah be moved from the border - but caved to the US

 

The US and France do not support Israel's need to push the Hezbollah terror group deeper into Lebanon, Kan Reshet Bet reported.

During recent discussions of the Knesset's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, it became clear that in negotiations between Israel, France, and the US, the messages being sent are not in line with Israel's promise to push Hezbollah deeper into Lebanon, away from the Lebanese border with Israel.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the members of the Committee that the goal is to create a buffer zone, until the Litani River, and that Hezbollah should be pushed to the other side of the river. Without this, residents of northern Israel will not be able to return to communities which are near the border.

According to the report, in a later discussion held by the Committee, a senior source in the Foreign Ministry admitted that although outwardly, Israel is talking about the Litani River, in negotiations with US and French negotiators Israel has said that it will accept a situation in which Hezbollah is only minimally distanced, by just a few kilometers, from the Lebanon-Israel border.

In addition, the Committee members were told that in such a case, Hezbollah's infrastructure would not be removed from the area - not even until the point where the terror group itself was removed to.

In such a case, Hezbollah's weapons storehouses, military posts, and other infrastructure will remain in place, including next to the border - something which the Prime Minister and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant have not mentioned in their statements about the future of northern Israel.