Tehran has told its Lebanese terrorist proxy Hezbollah that it supports ending the war against Israel amid an American push for a ceasefire agreement, the New York Times reported over the weekend.
Ali Larijani, senior adviser to Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, met senior Lebanese officials in Beirut last Friday to discuss the matter.
Two Iranians affiliated with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps told the NYT that Larijani conveyed messages to Hezbollah that Khamenei supported the end of the war and that the regime would assist with rebuilding the terror group's forces and recovering from the war.
The sources also said Khamenei told Hezbollah to accept the terms of a ceasefire deal that would see it retreat to north of the Litani River in accordance with UN Security Council Resolution 1701 — which ended the 2006 Second Lebanon War but which was never enforced.
Hezbollah has launched some 16,000 rockets, missiles and drones from Lebanon at Israel since joining the war in support of Hamas on October 8 last year, a day after the Gaza-based terrorist group's massacre in southern Israel. Over 60,000 residents of northern Israel remain internally displaced owing to rocket and drone attacks from Lebanon, which have caused widespread material damage and multiple deaths and injuries.
However, Hezbollah's leadership has been left in tatters following a series of assassinations by Israel, including of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in Beirut in September. This was preceded by Israeli sabotage of Hezbollah communication devices that killed 39 people and wounded more than 3,400 members of the terror group.
Israel has been waging a devastating aerial campaign against Hezbollah throughout Lebanon, including its stronghold of Dahieh south of Beirut. Israel’s then-Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said in late October that Hezbollah is estimated to have lost over 80 per cent of its long-range rockets since the start of the war.
Larijani reportedly said in Beirut on Friday that Tehran would support a decision by the Lebanese government and the country’s “resistance” to halt the war.
“We are not looking to sabotage anything. We are after a solution to the problems,” he said after meeting with Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati.
A source close to the Iranian terrorist proxy told the Washington Post last week that Hezbollah would be willing to withdraw its forces north of the Litani as part of a temporary ceasefire.
A senior Lebanese government official confirmed to AFP on Friday that US. Ambassador Lisa Johnson had presented a 13-point proposal to Lebanese officials the previous day which includes a 60-day truce, during which Lebanon would redeploy its troops along the border.
Berri, who is from the Hezbollah-aligned Amal movement, and Mikati were due to meet today to finalise Lebanon's response to the U.S. proposal, while President Joe Biden's envoy to Lebanon, Amos Hochstein, was scheduled to travel to the Lebanese capital on Tuesday for talks.
Lebanon’s LBCI channel has reported that Hezbollah's response to the US proposal had been positive.
Israel’s Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer discussed the proposal with US President-elect Trump during a visit to his Florida estate on Wednesday, according to the Post .
The discussions at Mar-a-Lago centered on a ceasefire that would involve Western and Russian cooperation, according to the Post. The proposal calls for Moscow to prevent Hezbollah from resupplying via Syrian land routes.
Dermer then met Biden administration officials, including Hochstein, in Washington.
Israeli officials confirmed that the proposal includes moving the Hezbollah terrorist group north of the Litani River, with the border area then being under control of the Lebanese Armed Forces, overseen by the United States and Britain.
Israeli officials emphasise, however, that the IDF must retain freedom of operation in Lebanon to thwart attempts by Hezbollah to violate the agreement and reestablish and rearm itself.
However, a source close to Hezbollah told the Post that the group’s “condition for progress remains clear: Israel must be prohibited from conducting operations within Lebanese territory.”
If the ceasefire efforts fail, an Israeli military official told the Post that there are plans to expand ground operations in Lebanon.
