Efforts to stop the war in Lebanon have suffered a major setback. The Iran-backed Hezbollah organization has refused to accept the new ceasefire agreement. At the same time, Israel has made it clear that it will not withdraw its forces from Lebanon and will continue military action. Due to this, US President Donald Trump’s efforts to restore peace in Lebanon and reach an agreement with Iran have become difficult.
Iran has already said that a ceasefire in Lebanon is a necessary condition for any peace agreement with America. In recent days, Iran has also indicated that it could become directly involved in the conflict if Israel continues attacking Lebanon. However, Hezbollah chief Naeem Qasim rejected the ceasefire agreement brokered by America.
Hezbollah was not part of the talks
This agreement was made between Israel and the Lebanese government, but Hezbollah was not part of this negotiation. Therefore he refused to accept it. There was no immediate reaction from the Israeli and Lebanese governments on this. In Washington, Trump said that some progress is being made towards peace in Lebanon. He said that this conflict has been going on for a long time and Lebanon deserves peace.
However, the situation on the ground is different. Israel is continuously carrying out air and military attacks in southern Lebanon. Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said that his army will not retreat from Lebanon nor stop its operations. Israel began military action in Lebanon in March during the escalating conflict with Iran.
Iran placed demands before Israel
The commander of the Quds Force of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said that Israel should at least retreat to the areas where its forces were deployed before the war started. Meanwhile, despite the US-brokered ceasefire, attacks continue in Lebanon, Gaza, northern Israel and Kuwait. Trump had recently said that there is not complete peace, but there is less firing than before.
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