Lebanon's Israel-Hezbollah dilemma

Contributing sentiments towards policy:

56% : " This, he said, is the kind of progress that Lebanon is hoping to get out of the 7 round of the talks with Israel that are opening today in Rome.
50% : He added that the maximum that Aoun could do today is to secure US support for the expansion of the 'pilot zones' to make them include areas that Israel has really occupied and to work in the meantime "to reassure Hezbollah that the state is not out to fully end it.
47% : He added that sources close to the investigation have clearly said that while "the ammonium nitrate was stored at the port by Hezbollah under the eyes and ears of some members of the security of the port", "it was certainly Israel who targeted the cache and caused the explosion.
47% : "So, it is really a very delicate balance that Aoun has to be observing - and to me, it seems that today the deal with Israel is his priority," he added.
45% : He explained that today Aoun tries to convince Hezbollah to agree to put down its arms, especially in the area south of the Litany River, for the Lebanese state to be able to push for an Israeli withdrawal from the areas it occupied since the new Hezbollah-Israel war that started in solidarity with Iran late February.
45% : "In reality, Israel had never honoured the ceasefire agreement that was reached with Hezbollah [in the autumn of 2024] at the end of the war that started [in October 2023] in solidarity with Hamas in Gaza," he said.
45% : However, he argued that the first sovereign right for the state is to "get Israel out unconditionally and then talk to Hezbollah".
44% : The withdrawal from Zawtar Al-Gharbiya was very limited given that Israel had only occupied the outskirts of the south-Lebanese village.
41% : "This is not just about Hezbollah but about the Israeli plan to end the concept of militant resistance all around Israel; they are doing the same with Hamas," he said.
39% : Still, he further added that "it is not at all that Hezbollah is without a constituency or that everyone is standing behind Aoun on the process of negotiations that he has been conducting upon the demand of the US to reach a deal with Israel."
38% : On 26 June, the US brokered a deal between Israel and Lebanon that was designed to end the state of war, facilitate a phased Israeli military withdrawal, and implement the disarmament of Hezbollah through the Lebanese Armed Forces.
38% : " Several diplomatic sources who spoke to Ahram Online on the matter shared profound skepticism on the chances for Israel to agree to any of these demands.
37% : Sallam think that it is pointless to try to get any indictment against Israel given the American protection," the source said.
36% : " According to the Beirut-based diplomat, however, "it is just unrealistic to expect Israel to withdraw from Lebanon without a plan to disarm Hezbollah."
35% : They also rejected the consent of the Lebanese state to abandon an otherwise legitimate right to pursue legal action against Israel for violations and crimes committed against Lebanon.
35% : He added that Lebanon is also hoping to get Israel to commit to suspend its attacks on the south of Lebanon "or at least to significantly reduce these attacks to strengthen the position of the state in the eyes of the critics of the deal.
33% : "Israel knows that Hezbollah has been significantly weakened not just by the strikes it committed in 2024 that allowed for the elimination of the top Hezbollah leadership but also by the weakness that Israel and the US has inflicted on Iran in the two wars of June last year and the longer war that started in late February this year," said one of the diplomatic sources.
29% : He explained that "right from the beginning" it was clear that there are two parties involved in this disaster that the Lebanese government is stuck with: "Hezbollah and Israel".

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