UN offers cautious welcome to Israel-Lebanon ceasefire accord
UN chief Antonio Guterres welcomed the ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon saying he hoped it would “put an end to the violence, destruction and suffering the people of both countries have been experiencing”.
He also called for full respect and swift implementation all commitments made under the agreement, in a statement issued by his spokesperson.
UN Special Coordinator for Lebanon Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert said the agreement “marks the starting point of a critical process, anchored in the full implementation of (UN Security Council) resolution 1701 (of 2006).”
Reportedly, the 60-day ceasefire could start as early as today (Wednesday) but people across the region are not holding their breath, especially as Hezbollah, the belligerent against Israel was not directly involved in the negotiations.
It was negotiated mainly between the US and Israel with some participation of the Lebanese government working through parliamentary leaders of the Shia community who do not belong to Hezbollah’s military wing and do not speak directly for it.
Resolution 1701 was adopted in the aftermath of the 2006 conflict between Israel and Hezbollah. It calls for a cessation of hostilities as well as respect for the “Blue Line” of separation between Israeli and Lebanese armed forces.
It terms were mostly ignored because Lebanon’s national army was too weak to control the rise of Hezbollah as a military force and feared that any attempt to constrain the militia could set off another civil war among Lebanese Christians, Sunni Muslims and Shia Muslims.
UNIFIL, a UN peacekeeping force, was established under resolution 1701 with a narrow mandate to surveil the Blue Line, which is an informal frontier between Israel and Lebanon.
The UN force did not have the authority or means to limit Hezbollah’s growth as a military power and could only observe as the militia expanded control over all of South Lebanon, which is traditionally an impoverished swathe inhabited by Shia Muslims.
The chief hope for the ceasefire’s implementation is based on Israel’s assertions that Hezbollah has been severely weakened in its fierce war and bombardment of Lebanese towns and villages in recent weeks.
Some hope also stems from Israeli claims that its recent direct missile attacks inside Iran sharply weakened that country’s critical military infrastructure, making it temporarily incapable of aiding Hezbollah which is seen by many as Iran’s proxy fighting force in the region.
It is possible that an isolated and weakened Hezbollah accepted the ceasefire option but may use it only to lick its wounds, regroup and fight another day.
Guterres said both the UN Special Coordinator for Lebanon and the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) “stand ready to support the implementation of this agreement, in line with their respective mandates”.
But neither Guterres nor his Special Coordinator have much influence over the Israel-Hezbollah war or its future directions. That future depends chiefly on decisions taken in Tel Aviv and Washington.
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