Despite the US demand that Israel refrain from opening another front in the north, in recent weeks Foreign Minister Eli Cohen has been working with foreign ministers of member states of the Security Council to demand and warn: Hezbollah must withdraw from the border area, otherwise war will break out.
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So far, Cohen has spoken with the foreign ministers of Britain and France, and today he is expected to meet in North Macedonia with the foreign ministers of Albania and Switzerland. This follows a strong letter he sent about a week ago to the president of the Security Council demanding a discussion and full implementation of Resolution 1701, which was adopted after the Second Lebanon War. After years of ignoring Israel's warnings about the situation in southern Lebanon and Hezbollah's repeated violations of Resolution 1701, it appears that Israel is also preparing diplomatically to prepare the ground for fighting that will move Lebanese fighters from the border.
Israel demands that UNIFIL use all its capabilities (together with the Lebanese army) to prevent a military presence south of the Litani by any force other than the Lebanese army. As noted, assuming that the diplomatic activity does not bear fruit from a practical perspective, it is expected to prepare public opinion for the necessary defensive activity on our northern border before the residents return to their homes.
About a week ago, he sent a strong letter to the President of the Security Council, Foreign Minister Eli Cohen (archive), photo: Oren Ben Hakon
IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevy met yesterday with the heads of the northern municipalities and presented them with three options for continuing the campaign in the region. The first is an all-out campaign with Hezbollah; The second option is a limited operation to create a buffer inside Lebanon, when Hezbollah understands that no all-out war will begin; The third option is enforcing Resolution 1701, which obliges Hezbollah not to cross the Litani southward, with the help of international bodies that are not from the UN.
The mayors left with mixed feelings from the meeting and decided together at the Confrontation Line Forum that they would hire a body to assist them in a public struggle to deal with the problem in the north. "The chief of staff said he was not dealing with the third option," said one of the mayors who attended the meeting, "He said that in two weeks we will be smarter about the impact of the fighting in the south on the northern arena. This statement makes one wonder why they are waiting with the northern arena, if the option is only military."
The Chief of Staff at a meeting with the heads of municipalities in the north, photo: IDF Spokesperson
The heads of the local authorities made it clear to the chief of staff that they do not intend to support the return of the residents without addressing the removal of Hezbollah from the fence. They presented him with claims that armed Radwan forces were still roaming the fence, without the IDF harming them. The mayors added that reinforcing obstacles or forces is not a solution for them.
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