The war in Lebanon shows no sign of abating. On Monday, the Israeli army bombed the center of Beirutkilling at least five people. On the same day, a woman was killed in northern Israel after a rocket was fired from Lebanon. And on Tuesday morning, almost 40 projectiles were fired in Israel’s Galilee and Tel Aviv regions, wounding several people.

Launched the day after Hamas attacked Israel on October 7 to open a “support front in solidarity with the Palestinians of the Gaza Strip, the war waged by the Hezbollah has intensified since the end of September, when the Hebrew state decided to launch a military offensive in the Land of the Cedars, with ground operations on the southern border and air strikes in the country.

To date, all international efforts to reach a truce have failed, despite appeals from the United States and France. In recent days, however, a concrete ceasefire plan has been under discussion between the United States and the Lebanese authorities. On Thursday, the American ambassador in Beirut, Lisa Johnson, presented the plan to the Lebanese Prime Minister, Najib Mikati, and the head of the Parliament and the President of the Republic. leader of the Shiite party Amal, an ally of Hezbollah, Nabih Berria precise plan. On Tuesday, the US President’s special envoy Amos Hochstein arrived in Beirut to lead these crucial negotiations. “The solution is within reach”.he even declared at midday, referring to “a real opportunity to end the conflict”..

A 60-day truce among the 13 points

The American plan contains a priori 13 points, starting with a 60-day truce and the deployment of the Lebanese army in the south of the country, currently deserted by the population after evacuation orders from the Israeli army and intensely bombarded.

In terms of substance, the discussions focus on how to implement UN Security Council Resolution 1701. This resolution, adopted in 2006 at the end of the 33-day war, put an end to the previous war between Israel and Hezbollah. It provided for the withdrawal of the Shiite movement’s fighters – as well as the Israeli army on the offensive – from the area between the Litani River and the Lebanese-Israeli border, a territory some thirty kilometers wide, and the deployment of the Lebanese army and peacekeepers in the area.

It also provided for the implementation of the Taif Agreement, which, at the end of the Lebanese civil war, imposed the disarmament of all the country’s militias. Created and financed by Iran, Hezbollah is the only faction to have kept its weapons ever since. “There was an exchange of ideas”. on how to “fully implement UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which we believe is in everyone’s interest”.said State Department spokesman Matthew Miller at a press conference on Monday.

Hezbollah fighters released

While all the details are not yet known, the plan has been warmly welcomed by the relevant Lebanese authorities. Lebanon has a point of view “very positive about the American proposal, commented a Lebanese official on condition of anonymity. “We are finalizing the last remarks”he added, pointing to disagreements over wording, among other things.

According to the Lebanese daily L’Orient-Le Jourone of the clauses stipulates that each party may defend itself in the event of a threat. The wording, ambiguous in the eyes of the Lebanese authorities, could leave the Hebrew state free to use operations in Lebanon as a pretext. The newspaper also mentions Beirut’s demand for a total halt to Israeli flights in Lebanese airspace, and the release of Hezbollah fighters captured during the clashes. The Lebanese authorities are also said to have asked for guarantees that the transition between the Biden and Trump administrations will not disrupt the ceasefire agreement.

The Hebrew state, for its part, does not seem to be so enthusiastic. The Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, warned on Monday evening that Israel will “carry out operations”… against Hezbollah even in the event of a ceasefire agreement in Lebanon.

“The most important thing is not (what is on) paper if there is an (agreement) but the fact that we will have the obligation, in order to ensure security in the north (of Israel), to systematically carry out operations against possible Hezbollah attacks, even after a ceasefire.”declared the Israeli Prime Minister. Israel has set itself the objective of driving Hezbollah away from the border regions of southern Lebanon, to ensure the return to their homes of some 60,000 inhabitants of northern Israel displaced by the movement’s fire for over a year.