Israel Strikes South Lebanon as Rome Talks Continue

Israel’s military resumed strikes on south Lebanon on Wednesday, the second day of a negotiating round held at the US embassy in Rome, saying it was responding to a ceasefire violation by Hezbollah. The story is not a distant one for Belgrade: Italy, one of Serbia’s most important trading partners, helped organize the talks, and Rome is also being floated as a candidate to serve as the third observer that would verify Israel’s withdrawal. A war that refuses to close on the Levant stays on the agenda of European foreign ministries, and in the price of the energy a Serbian importer pays.

Hours before the strikes were announced, the military told residents of Mansouri to leave their homes and move north. It was the first such order in south Lebanon since June.

“For your safety, you must leave your homes immediately and head north.”

The message, issued in Arabic, came from Israeli military spokesperson Ela Vaveya. The order was explained by saying the military had been forced to act against Hezbollah by force because of ceasefire violations.

The announcement of the strikes themselves followed shortly after.

“In response to a flagrant violation of the ceasefire by the terrorist organization Hezbollah, the military has begun precision strikes in south Lebanon.”

Lebanese state media reported at least one person killed, and 11 people wounded in a separate strike.

Mansouri: A Return in June, an Order to Leave in August

Mansouri sits roughly nine kilometers south of Tyre and about ten kilometers north of the border with Israel, on the edge of the zone Israel calls a security buffer, which extends some ten kilometers into south Lebanon. The municipality called residents back home on June 22, asking them to avoid the part of the village that falls inside that zone. Mansouri and the surrounding area kept coming under isolated strikes and artillery fire even after that.

The timing of this latest order says more than the order itself. On Tuesday evening, a United Nations humanitarian agency reported that more than 800,000 people displaced by earlier fighting had gone back home after the lull, while more than 360,000 remained displaced. Less than twenty four hours later, one of the villages people were returning to was told to head north again.

What the June Framework Says

The framework agreement accepted by Israel and Lebanon in June, brokered by Washington, rests on three elements:

• disarming Hezbollah
• a gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces from south Lebanon
• deployment of the Lebanese army in the areas handed back, starting with so called pilot zones

In a pilot zone, the Lebanese army takes full security responsibility, including the duty to prevent Hezbollah’s return, and Israel in exchange withdraws from a limited stretch of territory. One such exchange has already gone through: an earlier round in Rome produced a deal on Israel’s withdrawal from the edge of Zawtar al-Gharbiyeh, after which the Lebanese army deployed and residents returned once reconnaissance and clearance of the ground were finished. Beirut is now asking that the next pilot zone be Khiam or Bint Jbeil.

State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott said the Rome talks are working on strengthening implementation of the framework, on the pilot zone mechanism, on verifying Hezbollah’s disarmament and other Iran linked security threats, and on the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the south.

Why Is Ali Taher Hill Contested?

Because the two sides want opposite things from it. Ali Taher hill near Nabatieh is a strategic high point Israel says conceals a Hezbollah command center and underground weapons stores, so it wants the Lebanese army to secure it and dismantle whatever infrastructure is found there, treating it as one of the pilot zones. Beirut answers that there are no Israeli units at that location to be relieved, so there is nothing to hand over.

On top of that, Hezbollah has said it is withdrawing south of the Litani River, but will not disarm what it holds north of it, and Ali Taher sits exactly there.

One shift has still been recorded. The Israeli delegation dropped, for the first time, its demand that Hezbollah’s disarmament be settled before the border issue is even opened, a senior Lebanese official confirmed. Lebanon, however, has still not received an answer from the Israeli political leadership on committing to a ceasefire.

Working Day Cut Short by Three Hours

The seventh round overall, the first of which was held in Washington, wrapped up early on Wednesday. The Israeli side asked to end the day three hours ahead of schedule, a source close to the talks said, citing an explanation from the head of the Israeli delegation, Yechiel Leiter, Israel’s ambassador to the United States, that the Lebanese side was responsible for “misleading leaks.” The reason given, then, was not events on the ground but what had been getting out of the room itself.

Italy’s foreign minister, Antonio Tajani, who helped organize the talks, spoke the same day with his Iranian counterpart and called on Tehran to stop Hezbollah’s operations. In a post shortly before the Israeli strikes, he said he hoped the negotiations would produce concrete results.

A Divided Lebanon

Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem called on the government to stop making concessions, saying direct negotiations bring nothing but shame and humiliation. Prime Minister Nawaf Salam turned the accusation back on Hezbollah, saying the group had dragged the country into pointless wars.

The toll since the conflict began in March can be read to support either argument, depending on who is reading it. Lebanese authorities say 4,333 people have been killed in Israeli strikes, and more than a million displaced. The Israeli military has lost 38 soldiers and one civilian contractor over the same period.

The third and final day of this round is set for Thursday. On the table: expanding the pilot zone mechanism, naming the third body that would verify the withdrawal, and Lebanon’s demand that Israel halt demolitions and bombardment in the south, the latest of which hit the area around the historic Beaufort Castle last week.