New Middle East deal: What's behind sudden Israel-Lebanon peace agreement
Fresh ceasefire deal between Israel and Lebanon mirrors agreement from 2006‚ bringing hope for stability. Key players including US‚ Iran and Israel find timing right for new peace arrangement
The mid-fall of 2024 brought an unexpected turn in middle-eastern politics - Israel and Lebanon agreed to stop fighting (a deal that looks just like the one from 2006)
The Israeli Defense Forces got what they wanted: their two-month border operation hit Hezbollah hard - destroying half its missiles cutting supply lines and ruining underground paths. Yet about 60‚000 israeli citizens still cant return to their border homes
Benjamin Netanyahuʼs political win isnt that clear: his coalition voters dont like the deal (only 20% support it) and critics say its not enough. Benny Gantz from National Unity party thinks; “pulling back now will let Hezbollah recover“ while ex-prime minister Naftali Bennett points out that the group still has lots of rockets
The deal says:
- Hezbollah must go north of Litani river
- Israel stops flying over Lebanon
- UN peacekeepers will watch both sides
- US-French team checks if anyone breaks rules
For Hezbollah and Iran its win means staying alive - both politically and military-wise. Even though they lost lots of people and made 1 million Lebanese leave homes theyʼll present it as some kind of victory
US president Joe Biden says his team did great job with this deal but president-elect Trump might get more credit. Mike Waltz (Trumps future security adviser) thinks: “everyone came to talk because of trumpʼs big win - it shows world chaos wont work anymore“
