Israeli truce demands said to include access to Lebanese airspace to disarm Hezbollah

As US envoy arrives in Beirut, Jerusalem reportedly seeking ‘active enforcement’ of UN Resolution 1701 by IDF in south Lebanon, a clause seen as unlikely to be accepted by Lebanon

Israel handed the United States a document last week with its conditions for a diplomatic solution to end the war in Lebanon, a report said Sunday, as US envoy Amos Hochstein has arrived in Beirut for talks on a potential ceasefire.

According to a report in Axios, citing two US officials and two Israeli officials, Israel has demanded IDF troops be allowed to engage in “active enforcement” to make sure Hezbollah doesn’t rearm and rebuild its military infrastructure close to the border.

Israel had also demanded the Air Force have freedom of operation in Lebanese airspace, the report added.

A US official told the news outlet that it was highly unlikely that Lebanon and the international community would agree to Israel’s conditions. The White House and the Israeli embassy in Washington refused to comment on the report.

According to the US news site, Israel wants to be able to conduct “active enforcement” of UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which requires that the Lebanese Armed Forces be the only force with arms in southern Lebanon.

The resolution has gone largely unenforced since it was passed in 2006, allowing Hezbollah to build up a formidable arms cache and defensive capabilities, with neither UNIFIL peacekeepers nor the LAF willing to challenge the Iran-backed terror group.

Israeli troops operating in south Lebanon in an undated photo released for publication on October 21, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)

Israel has repeatedly portrayed its offensive in southern Lebanon as essentially stepping in and doing UNIFIL’s job for it.

“We are talking about 1701 with increased enforcement. Our main message is that if the Lebanese army and UNIFIL do more, the IDF will do less and the other way around,” an Israeli official is quoted as saying.

Hochstein will be in Beirut on Monday for talks with officials on conditions for a ceasefire, two sources in Lebanon told Reuters.

The US envoy is set to meet Lebanon’s caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati and Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri during his visit.

Berri told the Al-Arabiya broadcaster over the weekend that Hochstein’s visit was “the last chance before the US elections” to reach a truce and said he would reject any amendments to UN Resolution 1701.

A United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) patrol in the southern Lebanese Marjayoun district, near the border with Israel, on October 16, 2024. (AFP)

A year of cross-border violence between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon has dramatically escalated in recent weeks, with IDF troops launching a limited ground operation in southern Lebanon on September 30, several days after Israel killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in an airstrike on Beirut.

Rocket fire from Lebanon has intensified and Hezbollah has expanded its range, targeting Tel Aviv several times and once aiming rockets at Jerusalem but hitting the outskirts. Israeli airstrikes have also expanded and the IAF has repeatedly struck targets in southern Beirut, a noted Hezbollah stronghold.

The attacks on northern Israel over the last year have resulted in the deaths of 29 civilians. In addition, 43 IDF soldiers and reservists have died in cross-border skirmishes and in the ensuing ground operation launched in southern Lebanon in late September.

Lebanese officials estimate that over the past year, more than 2,400 people have been killed during the cross-border violence. The IDF estimates that it has killed more than 1,500 Hezbollah operatives during the conflict.