The United States is pressing for the inauguration of a buffer zone on the border between Israel and Lebanon
Financial Times The United States, the United Kingdom and France are exploring ways to persuade Hezbollah to withdraw from the Lebanese-Israeli border in a diplomatic push to prevent an all-out conflict between the militant group and Israel.
Under the initiative, Western officials have been talking to Lebanon and Israel in an effort to get both countries to implement the long-ignored UN resolution, known as 1701, which requires the Iran-backed militant group to withdraw its fighters from the border area.
One of the elements under discussion would give the Lebanese army a greater role in the region in an attempt to create a barrier between the armed group and the border.
"People can see what the solution will look like, but getting there is very difficult,"said a Western diplomat. "You need to get Israel and Hezbollah to stop fighting first, and you need to get Hezbollah to acquiesce."
Israeli forces and Hezbollah have been engaged in almost daily exchanges of fire since the outbreak of the war between Hamas and Israel on October 7. The clashes raised fears of a wider regional conflagration, and caused the Jewish state to evacuate tens of thousands of people from its border region.
As a result, following the Hamas attack, Israel warned that it could no longer accept the presence of Hezbollah forces on its northern border. It has threatened to act militarily if the 2006 UN resolution is not enforced.
To prevent escalation, American, British and French officials held talks with Israel and Beirut on ways to implement 1701, including strengthening the presence of LAF resources in southern Lebanon, people briefed on the talks said.
The hope is that the deal will eventually lead to Hezbollah - Lebanon's dominant political and military force - agreeing to withdraw its troops from the border.
The ideas being discussed include strengthening UNIFIL, the UN force stationed in southern Lebanon, and an attempt to officially demarcate the "blue line" that marks the de facto border between Israel and Lebanon in the absence of officially agreed borders.
People briefed on the discussions warned that they were at an early stage and there were significant obstacles to overcome. Some officials said that the talks were coordinated, others said that the United States, the United Kingdom and France are holding separate discussions with the parties.
A Lebanese official said Resolution 1701 could provide a" road map " for discussions. But he added that any deal must address Beirut's concerns about Israeli violations of 1701, including incursions into the airspace of the Arab state, and the presence of Israel in about a dozen disputed territories.
"What the Israelis are trying to do is use their war in Gaza as leverage to try to preempt us or put pressure on us - it won't work,"the official said. "So what we are saying is let's think constructively, put 1701 on the table and see who violates it, and let's try to activate its implementation."
Hezbollah is one of the most heavily armed non-state actors in the world, and withstood a 34-day conflict with Israel in 2006.
The Shiite movement is deeply entrenched in southern Lebanon, where many of its fighters are based, which will complicate efforts for a complete withdrawal. The demarcation of the land border and the recognition of Israel - which had no diplomatic relations with Lebanon - could also erode Hezbollah's reason for existence as a resistance movement.
But Israeli officials have made it clear that they expect Hezbollah to withdraw its fighters as required by Resolution 1701, which only allows the presence of Lebanese state forces and UNIFIL between the blue line and the Litani River, about 30 km inside Lebanon.
Israeli national security adviser Tzachi hengelbi said on Saturday that people who have been evacuated from northern Israel over the past two months will not return if they fear that Hezbollah forces will launch attacks in the area, as Hamas did in the south on October 7.
Diplomats and officials say Hezbollah will never commit to a full retreat from southern Lebanon. Diplomats said Israel was particularly focused on Hezbollah's Radwan force, an elite unit of a few thousand fighters.
Lebanese officials and those close to Hezbollah emphasize that the group is not actively seeking a wider regional war. Some hope this will make it more open to negotiating a deal; Hezbollah accepted the delimitation of the maritime borders of Israel and Lebanon last year.
"Hezbollah's position is similar to its position during the maritime border negotiations - they did not say that we support it, but they did not say that they are against it ."In the end, a deal was reached," said one of the people close to the talks.
Another challenge is the weakness of the Lebanese Armed Forces, which lacks the resources and funding to expand its operations to the South. One of the people involved in the talks suggested that Western countries may support the special forces with weapons and training as part of any deal.
The Lebanese army has been hit hard by the country's severe financial crisis. He is counting on financial assistance from the United States, Qatar and some European countries, which helped stop the wave of soldiers fleeing from his ranks due to wage cuts.
