AIJAC hopeful as Israel-Lebanon ceasefire takes effect
Ceasefire could be 'an important first step toward what could become a much-needed and long-overdue peace deal between Israel and Lebanon'
A 10-day ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah appeared to take effect at midnight Thursday-Friday after being declared by US President Donald Trump, who also announced he was inviting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Lebanese President Joseph Aoun for peace talks at the White House.
The Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council said it was hopeful the ceasefire could be “an important first step toward what could become a much-needed and long-overdue peace deal between Israel and Lebanon”.
AIJAC executive director Colin Rubenstein said the planned Netanyahu-Aoun summit, if it went ahead, “would be a major historic breakthrough, providing strong reasons for optimism that peace might finally be possible”.
“It is worth remembering that Israel and Lebanon have no significant territorial or other substantive disputes, and the repeated rounds of conflict between them are almost solely the result of the fact that outside forces, especially Iran, have been determined to put Lebanon on the front line as part of their strategy of surrounding Israel with a ‘ring of fire’,” Rubenstein said.
He said the key to both the ceasefire and longer-term peace would be progress on disarming Hezbollah.
“Worryingly, Hezbollah pounded northern Israel with dozens of missiles in the lead-up to the ceasefire coming into effect, and has also claimed to not be bound by its terms,” Rubenstein said.
“A lasting ceasefire must therefore urgently address the fundamental problem of Hezbollah’s disarmament and the full restoration of Lebanon’s sovereignty over its own territory.”
The ceasefire followed historic direct talks between Israeli and Lebanese envoys in Washington on Tuesday, the highest-level meeting between the two nations since Israel’s establishment in 1948.
Both the Israel Defense Forces and Hezbollah continued to launch attacks on Thursday until right before the truce went into force, with rockets fired by the Iran-backed Lebanese terror group resulting in serious wounds to a 17-year-old girl and a 25-year-old motorcyclist in Karmiel.
The IDF issued a statement minutes before midnight saying it struck over 380 Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon in the past day.
The ceasefire agreement allows the IDF to carry out strikes against “planned, imminent, or ongoing attacks”, but bars “offensive” operations against any Lebanese target.
The text states Lebanon will take “meaningful steps” to prevent Hezbollah and other non-state armed groups from carrying out attacks on Israel once the 10-day truce is in place.
Netanyahu said Israel had a “historic” opportunity to reach a peace agreement with Lebanon, pointing to past operations such as the 2024 pager attack and the killing of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.
He said Israeli forces would remain in Lebanon in an expanded security zone 10 kilometres wide.
Trump told reporters the White House summit would take place within the next week or two. It will be Netanyahu’s seventh meeting with Trump since the latter returned to office.
Rubenstein said Australia and the international community should strongly support “this historic opportunity to advance peace and stability for both Lebanon and Israel, while recognising the legitimacy of Israel’s actions to defend its citizens from sustained attacks by Hezbollah”.