Tel Aviv has signalled that mid-May will serve as a firm cut-off point for reaching a substantive agreement with Lebanon, after which it plans to resume active military operations against Hezbollah, Israeli media reported on Wednesday.
Jerusalem’s ultimatum
Israel views the middle of May as a deadline for concluding a meaningful agreement with Lebanon, a high-ranking Israeli source told Kan 11 on Tuesday evening.
Once that deadline passes, Israel intends to resume active hostilities against Hezbollah, the source added.
The Trump administration is now seeking to arrange a White House meeting between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Lebanese President Joseph Aoun before the truce period ends. However, all parties involved in the negotiations are said to be sceptical about the prospects of such a summit.
Israel’s self-imposed deadline coincides with the extension of the ceasefire announced last week by Donald Trump following an ambassadors’ meeting at the White House: a three-week pause, lasting until mid-May.
Aoun hits back at Hezbollah
In a national address on Monday, President Aoun rejected Hezbollah’s accusations of treason and turned the charge back on the group: “A traitor is he who drags his own country into war in the service of foreign interests.”
Addressing critics who objected to negotiations taking place without “unanimous consent,” Aoun reminded them that their approval had also not been sought when war was declared. “Wait for the talks to begin, then judge by the results,” he said. He promised that he would “never sign a dishonourable agreement.”
Hezbollah’s secretary-general, Naim Qassem, described the negotiations with Israel as a “betrayal of national interests” and called for the dialogue to be halted. He vowed to continue the fight against the “Israeli occupation of southern Lebanon.”
No US guarantees on strikes
On Wednesday, the Lebanese newspaper Al-Akbar reported that the US is offering no guarantees that Israeli strikes would cease if a deal between Israel and Lebanon were reached.
“According to information from Washington regarding the proposed agreement between Lebanon and Israel, there are no unequivocal American guarantees to stop strikes deep inside Lebanese territory, as Israel would retain the right to self-defence in response to what it perceives as threats emanating from Lebanese soil,” the newspaper said, citing Egyptian sources involved in mediation efforts.
Washington has also warned that security risks could persist over the long term.
Fragile truce under strain
On April 24, US President Donald Trump said that a meeting between the Israeli and Lebanese leaders would take place at the White House within the next couple of weeks.
On April 17, Lebanon and Israel agreed to a ten-day ceasefire. The Lebanese army did not take part in the hostilities with Israel; the fighting was conducted by Hezbollah, which is not a party to the ceasefire arrangements. As a result, Israeli forces and Hezbollah have largely limited the scope of their operations, though they continue to carry out periodic strikes against each other’s positions.
