Anthony Samrani, co-editor-in-chief of L'Orient-Le Jour.
Dear reader,
More than two months after the escalation of the war between Israel and Hezbollah last September, and over 400 days since the opening of Hezbollah’s "support front" for Gaza in southern Lebanon, a cease-fire agreement was reached between Tel Aviv and Beirut on Tuesday, Nov. 26.
Brokered by the United States with assistance from France, the agreement comes amidst relentless Israeli airstrikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs, the Bekaa Valley and southern Lebanon over the past several weeks.
As L’Orient-Le Jour revealed, the agreement stipulates that “Hezbollah and all other armed organizations present on Lebanese territory will refrain from any offensive action against Israel” and that “in return, Israel will not carry out any offensive military actions against targets in Lebanon, whether on land, sea or air.” While the Israeli Prime Minister assured on Tuesday evening that Israel retains “full military freedom of action” in the event of a cease-fire violation, this is not explicitly mentioned in the agreement.
Will this agreement hold? Will the cease-fire period reveal its blind spots? Who will bear the cost of reconstruction? Can we realistically envision Hezbollah relinquishing its weapons? And how will the potential political reconfiguration in Lebanon look?
Many questions arise today. Share yours with our co-editor-in-chief, Anthony Samrani, by emailing them to the following address: livechatolj@lorientlejour.com or by leaving a comment on this article (if you are a subscriber, of course).
Anthony Samrani will respond here on Wednesday, Nov. 27, at 11 a.m., Beirut time.
In the meantime, here are some recommended readings:
- What about north of the Litani River?
- Before the cease-fire in Lebanon, the latest advances of the Israeli army on the ground.
- Syria at the heart of negotiations to complement Resolution 1701?
- Cease-fire: Cabinet to meet Wednesday to formalize agreement.
- Why Israel wanted to exclude France from Lebanon’s cease-fire agreement.
- Testimonies in Beirut, chaos in the final hours before the cease-fire.