Evaluating Lebanon ceasefire deal
A ceasefire in Lebanon was announced on Nov. 26. What does it mean?
This is a ceasefire deal brokered by U.S. imperialism and applauded by France and the rest of the countries in the European Union. According to press statements the deal is to “secure Israel from the threat of Hezbollah.” (CBS News, Nov. 27)
Hezbollah fighters
In other words, Israel had to be bailed out by its imperialist backers. Israel totally failed in its often-stated aim of fully defeating Hezbollah. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced the goal of creating a depopulated buffer zone on Lebanon’s side of the frontier. This effort too has failed.
Both the Lebanese government and Hezbollah insisted that a return of displaced civilians to southern Lebanon must be a key tenet of the truce.
Resistance News Network reports: “As the people of Lebanon return safely and joyously to their homes after months of displacement, Hezbollah’s decisive victory is clear: As promised by [assassinated Hezbollah Secretary-General] Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah in his final speech, 200,000 settlers have not and will not return to the northern settlements — unlike the steadfast Lebanese [small farmers].
“Hezbollah, despite great sacrifices, retains full command and control, as evidenced by its ability to strike ‘Tel Aviv’ and Haifa two days ago. Meanwhile, the zionist Defense Minister moments ago rejected recommendations to return to schooling in the Golan Heights and border settlements, despite the ceasefire, underscoring ongoing insecurity.” (Nov. 27)
Israeli Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, a right-wing member of Netanyahu’s government, opposed the agreement, saying on X that “the agreement does not ensure the return of Israelis to their homes in the country’s north. The Lebanese army does not have the ability to overcome Hezbollah.” (aljazeera.com, Nov. 26)
The Israeli war cabinet approved the U.S.-brokered deal even before President Joe Biden’s announcement that Israeli troops would withdraw from southern Lebanon, with the Lebanese army redeploying in the region over a 60-day period.
Israel failed to hold any ground
Israel is once again defeated in its attempt to invade and hold ground in Lebanon. The Zionist state was capable of creating massive destruction of civilian centers with U.S.-provided bombs. But it could not defend its own military centers from Hezbollah’s rockets.
The day before the ceasefire went into effect, Hezbollah stated that it had carried out fresh retaliatory operations against Israeli military sites and settlements deep inside Israel and had succeeded in hitting a number of the regime’s vital bases.
Hezbollah announced its use of squadrons of advanced drones. The drones succeeded in hitting a series of sensitive military sites in Tel Aviv and its surroundings, scoring direct hits.
Beirut in wake of Israeli bombardment, September 2024.
Hezbollah successfully targeted Israel’s heavily defended Shraga Base four times with drones and rockets. The Shraga Base, north of Acre, is the administrative headquarters of the notorious Golani Brigade. Hezbollah posted widely the videos of its successful attacks. (tinyurl.com/2whxpv58)
In a surprise attack by Hezbollah the previous week, on Nov. 18 two fighters in southern Lebanon ambushed Israeli forces, hitting the chief of Golani Brigade, its company commander and several soldiers. Five Israelis, including an off-duty major, were killed in the attack and other senior officers injured. (timesofisrael.com, Nov. 28)
Hezbollah was also able to hit a number of Israeli settlements, including Maalot-Tarshiha and Kabri with rockets, along with gatherings of Israeli forces in a number of settlements, including Metulla and Kiryat Shmona. Hezbollah destroyed an Israeli bulldozer and a Merkava tank near Khiyam in southern Lebanon, resulting in casualties among its crew. (presstv.ir, Nov. 27)
In defense of Palestine, Hezbollah has fired rockets into Israel and carried out raids since the October 7, 2023, Al-Aqsa Flood launched by Hamas. began. Two months ago, Israel opened an all-out bombing of Lebanon, targeting hospitals and schools in Beirut and all major population centers.
Will a U.S.-brokered deal hold?
In its bloody, 200-year history, U.S. imperialism has never respected, honored or abided by any treaty, deal or ceasefire with Indigenous peoples internally or internationally. There is no reason to believe that any part of this temporary pause, brokered by U.S. imperialism, was made in good faith.
Although Netanyahu immediately and publicly thanked Biden for his “involvement in securing the ceasefire agreement,” he added the escape clause on the deal. “In full coordination with the United States, we retain complete military freedom of action. Should Hezbollah violate the agreement or attempt to rearm, we will strike decisively.” (reuters.com, Nov. 26)
So, while declaring that Hezbollah cannot rearm, Netanyahu declares that Israel fully intends to rearm. The stated reason for Israel agreeing to the ceasefire is “to focus on Iran, to replenish depleted arms supplies and give the army a rest and finally to isolate Hamas.” This is an admission that Hamas and the heroic Palestinian resistance, despite the most gruesome and genocidal attacks in every part of the surrounded Gaza Strip, are far from defeated.
What is left unsaid is how Israel intends to take on Iran after it has failed so spectacularly in its announced goals of defeating Hezbollah, creating a cleared buffer zone in Lebanon and resettling tens of thousands of occupying Zionist settlers in northern Israel. However, Israel’s bragging may also mean that the Zionist death machine is confident of an even larger scale of U.S. support in a future attack.
