LONDON: As the US-brokered ceasefire in Gaza tenuously holds, attention is now shifting north to Lebanon. There, a proposal from President Joseph Aoun for talks to resolve long-standing disputes has been rejected by Israel.
With Israel still occupying five hilltops in Lebanon, airstrikes continuing in the south, and Hezbollah’s disarmament unresolved, the question looms: Are the two countries ready to bury the hatchet?
On Oct. 13, at the Sharm El-Sheikh Peace Summit where US President Donald Trump unveiled the Gaza ceasefire deal, Aoun struck a conciliatory tone. “Today, the general atmosphere is one of compromise, and it is necessary to negotiate,” he said.
Citing the 2022 US- and UN-mediated maritime border agreement between Lebanon and Israel, Aoun said: “Lebanon negotiated in the past with Israel … What prevents repeating the same thing to find solutions to pending matters, especially that war did not lead to results?”
Israel’s response came about a week later. US envoy Tom Barrack conveyed Israel’s rejection of Aoun’s proposal, which called for a two-month halt to Israeli military operations, withdrawal from occupied Lebanese territory, and subsequent border and security talks.
