Washington: Framework agreement will not be resolved before the conclusion of Israeli elections in October

Beirut - Mansour Shaaban: Former US Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs David Schenker affirmed that the framework agreement between Lebanon and Israel will not be finalized before the Israeli elections scheduled for October next year.

In a televised interview reported by the Russia Today website, Schenker noted that “current meetings aim only to keep the negotiation track going and prevent its collapse,” clarifying that “the Lebanese Army is required to expand its deployment in sensitive areas and prevent Hezbollah from re-establishing its presence.” He stated that success in this mission “would constitute a decisive factor in pushing Israel toward a gradual withdrawal from the areas it occupies,” and predicted that “upcoming negotiation rounds would witness an exchange of prisoners and an Israeli withdrawal from some areas, although this will not happen before the October elections.”

Schenker said that “the United States must play a pivotal role in establishing an effective monitoring mechanism to ensure the Lebanese Army carries out its duties in sensitive areas, with the aim of encouraging Israel to withdraw,” adding, “The Lebanese government must impose state sovereignty and end Iranian dominance over its decision-making, but Tehran will not back down from supporting its ally Hezbollah and will continue to provide it with support.”

This statement followed an announcement by the US Embassy in Beirut, citing a US State Department official, that the ambassadors of Lebanon and Israel are scheduled to meet at the Foreign Ministry this week to discuss current developments and continue implementing the “trilateral framework,” and that the eighth round of US-mediated Lebanese-Israeli negotiations will be held in Rome in October next year.

Meanwhile, sports took center stage at Baabda Palace, where President of the Republic General Joseph Aoun received the President of the International Automobile Federation (FIA) and world champion Mohammed bin Sulayem during his visit to Lebanon, to attend the 48th Lebanon International Rally organized by the Lebanese Automobile and Tourism Club, in the presence of Minister of Youth and Sports Nora Berroqarian and the Ambassador of the United Arab Emirates, Fahd Salem Al-Kaabi.

Aoun stated that car racing is a bridge connecting Lebanon with the world, and the Lebanon Rally presents the country as a potential destination for international sports and tourism events. He emphasized that “sports has become an economic driver through the championships and races it organizes, revitalizing tourism and investment and attracting international sponsors and major companies.”

In a parallel development, Aoun received former President Michel Suleiman, who said after the meeting at Baabda Palace, “I commended President Joseph Aoun’s visit to the South, which crowned the step of the Army’s deployment in Nabatieh, and I wished that Hezbollah would no longer commit the great sin of failing to hand over the Ali al-Tahir hill to the Lebanese Army.”

On the ground, the Israeli army continues to carry out military operations at its explosive pace in southern Lebanon. Yesterday, the town of Kounin in the Bint Jbeil district and the town of Majdal Zoun were targeted more than once. The army burned several homes in the town of Al-Tayri in the Bint Jbeil district and fired from its heavy machine guns toward the outskirts of the towns of Shqaa and Baraish to terrorize residents who had returned to their homes. It also shelled the outskirts of the Al-Deir neighborhood in Nabatieh Al-Fouqa, in addition to patrolling with automatic weapons toward the town of Beit Yahoun in the Bint Jbeil district and targeting the town of Haddatha.