Report: US exploring possibility of Lebanon-Israel land border deal

The U.S. is examining the possibility of an agreement between Israel and Lebanon on the land border between them, similar to the maritime border agreement signed in 2022, Israeli officials have said.

The same sources told Israel’s Yedioth Aharonot newspaper that a senior White House official, Amos Hochstein, who was a key mediator in the maritime border deal and has been working on reducing the chance of escalation on the border since October 7, is examining the possibility of devising a similar mechanism to reach an agreement on the land border disputes between Lebanon and Israel.

These disputes refer, among other things, to the Shebaa Farms area, which Lebanon says is Lebanese territory occupied by Israel.

The formal purpose of such an agreement would be to regulate the border issues, which are the official argument that Hezbollah makes against Israel in the domestic Lebanese arena. But senior Israeli officials said that, in fact, the goal is to permanently remove Hezbollah from the border by "powerful" diplomatic means, so that Israel is “not forced to be dragged into a military campaign on the northern border.”

The Biden administration has made it clear to Israel that it would not support an Israeli pre-emptive strike against Hezbollah, and President Joe Biden went out of his way to launch a credible threat aimed at detering Hezbollah from expanding the war it is already waging against Israel.

This evening Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Galant held a tense meeting with the heads of the Israeli communities that lie on and near the frontline with Lebanon. The minister promised them that Hezbollah would be driven beyond the Litani River, either by political or military means. Only after Hezbollah is removed from the border will the residents of the Israeli north be returned to their homes, he said.

Last week Minister Gallant infuriated the residents of the north when he said that they will soon be able to return to their homes since Hezbollah is “deterred and removed from the border.” Now he made it clear that the war “will not end without the removal of Hezbollah,” Yedioth Aharonot said.