BEIRUT: Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said on Thursday that a joint statement from the fourth round of US-brokered Lebanese-Israeli talks carried “highly significant points in Lebanon’s favor, and amounts to the final opportunity to move into a definitive and comprehensive ceasefire; on the understanding that each party will shoulder the responsibility if it fails to respond.”
A Lebanese official confirmed to Arab News that the president was waiting for Hezbollah’s response, expected to arrive via Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri.
“All parties have been informed of the outcome of the negotiating session,” the official said. “What was issued is not a ceasefire agreement. It is a statement, one whose contents and conditions Israel has accepted in full.
What remains is Hezbollah’s answer.” Once that answer came, the official added, Washington would be informed and next steps determined. Speaking informally to reporters at Baabda Palace, Aoun said that Washington would “determine the timing and the mechanism for putting the ceasefire into effect, which could begin 24 hours after it is notified of approval and once the necessary guarantees are provided.” US President Donald Trump would serve as the direct guarantor of implementation. The president said that “the Lebanese negotiating delegation, headed by Ambassador Simon Karam, held its ground throughout the two sessions convened over the past two days.” Wednesday’s session was tough — Karam was driven to suspend the round and insisted on refusing to take up any other matter until a comprehensive ceasefire had been settled. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio was brought in to revive the talks, which concluded by accepting the Lebanese demand for a comprehensive ceasefire. Aoun said that “from Wednesday morning until the small hours of Thursday, we stayed in contact with international and domestic actors to lock in the comprehensive ceasefire, and a number of sister and friendly states also played a role in applying pressure on Lebanon’s behalf.”
The joint Lebanese-Israeli statement, released at dawn on Thursday Beirut time, sets out that “both Israel and Lebanon have, under American sponsorship, agreed to implement a ceasefire. Its entry into force is contingent on a full cessation of fire by Hezbollah and the withdrawal of all its personnel from the area south of the Litani. Hezbollah must also allow the rapid establishment of pilot zones where the Lebanese Armed Forces — and only the Lebanese Armed Forces — hold exclusive control over the territory, with every non-state armed actor removed from the picture.” Israel said that “its security and respect for its territorial integrity can only be achieved through the disarmament of Hezbollah and the dismantling of its infrastructure throughout Lebanon.”
