Lebanon Proposes Ceasefire as Israel-Hezbollah War Displaces Hundreds of Thousands
The Lebanese government pushed for a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah this week, citing the vast number of civilians displaced from southern Lebanon by the fighting.
Israel has thus far been cool to the proposal, expressing little confidence in the Lebanese government’s will or ability to disarm Hezbollah by force.
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun presented a four-point proposal on Tuesday that would include a “complete truce,” logistical support for the Lebanese Army to disarm Hezbollah, and “direct negotiations under international auspices” to get Israeli forces out of Lebanon. Direct negotiations with Israel have previously been a forbidden subject for Lebanese leaders.
Aoun denounced Hezbollah’s attack on Israel as “a trap, and an almost overt ambush for Lebanon, and the Lebanese state, and the Lebanese people.” He said Hezbollah and its paymasters in Tehran were trying to “buy the fall of the Lebanese state” without concern for the price, which included “destroying dozens of our villages and the fall of tens of thousands of our people for the sake of the Iranian regime’s calculations.”
Aoun said over 700,000 Lebanese citizens have been displaced by the fighting, including 200,000 children, creating a massive humanitarian crisis. (Read more from “Lebanon Proposes Ceasefire as Israel-Hezbollah War Displaces Hundreds of Thousands” HERE)
