Israel, Lebanon and the US sign a framework agreement as Netanyahu insists on staying in southern Lebanon

A ceremony under American auspices

In a Washington signing ceremony on Friday 26 June, Israeli ambassador Yechiel Leiter and Lebanese ambassador Nada Hamadeh Moawad inked a tripartite framework agreement alongside US Secretary of State Marco Rubio. The text, whose full details were not released, is the culmination of the fifth round of direct bilateral talks that began in mid-April under US mediation, the first such negotiations in decades between two countries still technically at war.

We are happy to announce a framework agreement between the sovereign government of Lebanon and the government of Israel, with the mediation and support of the United States.

The secretary of state stressed the moment was only a beginning, calling it “the start of the start” and adding that Washington does not underestimate the difficulty ahead. The US has pledged $30 million to the Lebanese Armed Forces to help them assume security responsibilities.

What the text provides for

Without naming Hezbollah directly, the agreement lays out a process whereby the Lebanese Armed Forces will restore effective sovereign authority over all Lebanese territory, subject to verified disarmament of non-state armed groups and the dismantling of their infrastructure. In parallel, the Israel Defense Forces will withdraw progressively from Lebanese soil.

A joint military coordination group, with US participation, will oversee implementation. The Lebanese army will begin taking control in two “pilot zones” on either side of the Litani River, to be defined together with the Israeli military. Once those areas are under exclusive state control, international reconstruction efforts are to start and displaced civilians may return.

In this framework, Iran is excluded, Hezbollah is excluded, and the path to peace between Israel and Lebanon is open.

Netanyahu’s immediate counter-statement

Hours after the ceremony, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu released a pre-recorded video telling Israeli media that residents who fled the southern zone would not be allowed back and that Israel would remain deployed there.

The most important thing above all is that Israel remains in the security zone in southern Lebanon. This is a major achievement, and we will maintain it as long as Hezbollah has not been disarmed.

That blunt assertion directly contradicted Ambassador Hamadeh Moawad, who had described the agreement as a first step toward “a definitive and permanent cessation of hostilities” and the return of Lebanese people to their land.

Hezbollah warns of civil war

Hezbollah lawmaker Hassan Fadlallah warned that Lebanese authorities could only enforce the accord by “heading, with American support, toward a civil war.” Shortly after the signing, supporters of the Iran-backed Shia group blocked several roads in Beirut, including the airport road, in protest.

The Lebanese authorities will be unable to impose implementation of the agreement signed in Washington unless they move, with American support, toward a civil war.

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun called the framework “a first step” that must allow the Lebanese to return to their land under state sovereignty, without “occupation, prisoners, subordination or guardianship.”

A conflict that reignited in March

Hostilities on the Lebanese front resumed in early March after Hezbollah fired rockets toward Israel in solidarity with Iran, which was then under an Israeli-American military offensive. Israel responded with massive airstrikes and ground deployments in the south, leaving more than 4,200 dead according to Lebanese authorities. The Israeli army now occupies what it terms a “security zone” roughly ten kilometres deep from the border. A ceasefire announced on 17 April was never respected.