Netanyahu says Israel's 'ability to enforce' key to any Lebanon deal
American envoys Amos Hochstein and Brett McGurk met Thursday with Israeli leaders in yet another effort to clinch a deal for a cease-fire in southern Lebanon.
US special envoy to the region Amos Hochstein and the White House's Middle East coordinator Brett McGurk met Thursday in Jerusalem with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in another push to advance a deal between Israel and Hezbollah.
A statement issued by Netanyahu’s office said the prime minister thanked the Biden administration for its diplomatic efforts to reach an agreement to end the fighting in Lebanon, but stressed that the most important element of such an agreement is not the piece of paper it’s written on, but "Israel’s determination and ability to enforce the agreement and to foil any threat to its security from Lebanon, in a manner that will return residents to their homes safely."
After a year of intermittent cross-border fire between Hezbollah fighters and Israeli forces, Israel launched an invasion into southern Lebanon on Oct. 1 targeting the Iran-backed groups weapons and infrastructure.
According to Haaretz, Netanyahu and the American envoys discussed the Lebanon cease-fire deal, efforts to resume indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas for the liberation of the hostages and a cease-fire in Gaza, and the Iranian threats to retaliate over Israel’s latest strike on military targets in the country.
