The representatives of the two countries agreed yesterday to start talks on the land border. The mediation of the United States was decisive, with the Israeli government then releasing five Lebanese detainees, including a member of Hezbollah. Surprise among the ranks of the Party of God, who tried to hinder the agreement by refusing disarmament and a diplomatic solution.
Beirut AsiaNews - An important development occurred yesterday in Lebanon, taking by surprise the upper echelons in Beirut who had feared a stagnation of the military situation on the border with Israel and the same leaders of Hezbollah. With this in mind, three joint working groups will be set up to deal with these three points of the agreement. The announcement was made at the end of a meeting of the Israeli-Lebanese ceasefire supervision committee, led by US General Jasper Jeffers, at the headquarters of the UN peacekeeping force in Naqoura.
According to Axios , a delegation from the US State Department is expected in Beirut shortly to follow up on these proposals. However, the issue of the Shebaa Farms, a part of which is still occupied by Israel, was excluded from this agreement, since Lebanese sovereignty over this portion of territory is also contested by Syria.
However, it is not impossible that the installation of the new Syrian government could provide an opportunity to resolve this issue too, which his predecessor [Bashar al-Assad] had always refused to address and settle. In reality, four of them were handed over yesterday at the Unifil headquarters in Naqoura.
A fifth, who is in hospital, should be released today. Citing two American officials, Axios reported that one of the Lebanese released by Israel is a member of Hezbollah. According to reports in Lebanon, a total of 11 citizens of the Land of the Cedars are currently being held by Israel. He was kidnapped at the beginning of November by an Israeli naval commando, who took him from a chalet he was occupying on the Lebanese coast.
