The announcement of the arrival of an American military delegation to Lebanon and its work with the Lebanese army to set arrangements for the implementation of the steps for the experimental areas, from which the Israeli occupation forces will withdraw and hand over to the Lebanese army, under the framework agreement reached in direct negotiation sessions between Lebanon and Israel, under American sponsorship in Washington last month, puts the seriousness of American promises to the test, and the extent of its commitment to actually assist, within a specified timeframe to end the Israeli occupation crisis in southern Lebanon and establish the authority of the Lebanese state over all its territories.
Israel preempted the arrival of the American military delegation to Lebanon and Israel by announcing through its Defense Minister its refusal to withdraw from the areas it occupies in southern Lebanon, before disarming Hezbollah, while the party rejects the framework agreement, relying on the Islamabad paper, for any solution to the Israeli occupation crisis, due to Iran's involvement in it, despite its obscurity and the absence of any executive steps.
How does Washington deal with the Israeli objection to the withdrawal, and Hezbollah's refusal to respond to the framework agreement?
This is a basic question raised before embarking on what has been reported about an experimental Israeli withdrawal including two areas, days before the Rome meeting between Lebanon and Israel to continue implementing what was agreed upon in the framework agreement into actual execution, within a specified timeline, and the success of the meeting is linked to what is achieved in the first experimental withdrawal step to the south, while this success hovers over the visit of President Joseph Aoun to Washington next week as well, which requires the American sponsor of the framework agreement and its contents to take all necessary measures and pressure, particularly on Israel, to succeed in the first step of the gradual Israeli withdrawal, to prove its ability and seriousness in executing its promises and commitments.
Here, one cannot ignore the impact of the military escalation occurring between the United States and Iran against the backdrop of the freedom of maritime navigation in the Strait of Hormuz, on the ongoing preparations for the execution of the first experimental phase of the Israeli withdrawal in southern Lebanon, and the fear of it turning later into a wide-ranging war, if diplomatic efforts to contain the escalation fail, with the possibility of this confrontation extending to ignite the southern Lebanese front by an Iranian decision, as occurred in the 'Support' wars of Gaza and Iran before, which affects and hinders the implementation of the framework agreement, despite the difficulties after the repercussions and destruction of the mentioned wars, and the unprecedented expansion of the Israeli occupation.
Some consider that the ambiguity surrounding the fate of the Islamabad paper, following the ongoing escalation, has given a strong impetus to implement the contents of the framework agreement, considering it the only possible solution currently to end the Israeli occupation crisis, under continuous American sponsorship.