US envoy: Israel shouldn’t make ‘small things into big things’ in tenuous Lebanon truce
On Gaza, Jack Lew argues Netanyahu’s vocal demands on Philadelphi ‘distracted’ from Hamas intransigence; says ‘there is no arms embargo on Israel’ after PM’s insinuations otherwise
US Ambassador to Israel Jack Lew on Thursday cautioned Israel against overreacting to incidents in Lebanon amid efforts to stabilize the ceasefire with Hezbollah, and said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s vocal insistence on Israel maintaining forces along the Gaza-Egypt border had “distracted attention” from the fact that Hamas was the main obstacle to a hostage deal.
In an interview with Kan News, Lew said of the Lebanon ceasefire: “Israel has made clear that it has to be able to defend itself, but they also have to act in a way that doesn’t take small things and turn them into big things.”
Since the ceasefire came into effect last week, Israel has carried out several strikes in southern Lebanon, targeting what it has said were Hezbollah operatives acting in violation of the deal’s terms. France and Lebanon have accused Israel of itself violating the ceasefire with those strikes.
Alongside his subtle critique of Israel, Lew said that “the government of Lebanon has to increasingly gain control over the things that are causing those responses” from Israel.
“That’s going to take time, and it’s going to take having days of going through the ups and downs, but [the ceasefire] is holding,” added the outgoing ambassador, who is set to be replaced when the incoming Trump administration appoints a new envoy.
Lew added that the US was now leading a new mechanism in place to ensure that the deal is upheld and that alleged violations are addressed in real-time.
Asked about claims by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office that the US had instituted an effective arms embargo against Israel during the war, Lew reiterated the Biden administration’s denial of the accusation, saying, “There is no arms embargo on Israel. This is fiction. There is one type of weapon that we did not transfer: 2000-lb bombs. The issue has not yet been resolved. There are no agreements on how to use heavy ammunition in densely populated areas.”
שגריר ארה״ב בישראל ג׳ק לו בראיון בלעדי ל-@kann_news: ״אין אמברגו נשק על ישראל. זו פיקציה. יש סוג אחד של כלי נשק שלא העברנו – פצצות 2000 פאונד (טון). הסוגיה עדיין לא נפתרה. אין הסכמות על אופן השימוש בתחמושת כבדה באזורים צפופי אוכלוסין״ pic.twitter.com/On3DTdE0QR
— Suleiman Maswadeh סולימאן מסוודה (@SuleimanMas1) December 5, 2024
Lew also said that Netanyahu’s repeated public remarks over the summer about the need for Israel to remain in the Philadelphi Corridor along the Egypt-Gaza border “distracted attention” from the fact that Hamas was the main obstacle to a hostage deal.
In early July, Netanyahu added new conditions to the hostage deal proposal he had previously approved, insisting that Israel maintain its military presence in the Philadelphi Corridor to prevent the rearmament of Hamas, Arab and Israeli negotiators have told The Times of Israel.
Netanyahu subsequently discussed the issue at public appearances and even held a press conference in early September where he stood by an enlarged map of the corridor and sought to explain its strategic significance. Israel’s security establishment has taken a different view, arguing that the IDF would be able to return to the corridor if need be and that withdrawing from the route was a necessary concession to make to secure the release of the hostages.
“Most people think that the Philadelphi Corridor was the biggest issue because the government here talked so much about the Philadelphi Corridor,” Lew said.
“In fact, there was a constructive negotiation on the Philadelphi Corridor that could have led to a phase one deal, and Hamas was rigidly insisting on tougher terms regarding prisoners and rights to have a say over who gets released, and they were hardening their position,” he continued.
“But the world doesn’t necessarily know that, because the maps of the Philadelphi Corridor are what they saw. The resistance has come from Hamas in large part, but some of the actions taken by the government of Israel have shifted the focus from Hamas in a way that’s not helpful,” Lew added.
To those who insisted Israel could leave the border region and later return if necessary, Netanyahu maintained that international pressure would be too strong against Israel returning to the corridor once it left — though he took an opposite stance when defending Israel’s decision to withdraw from Lebanon as part of the ceasefire with Hezbollah last week.
Talks on a ceasefire and hostage release in Gaza have resumed in recent weeks, especially after the agreement was signed between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon, with a major push from Egypt as the primary mediator between Jerusalem and Hamas leadership.
An Israeli official told The Times of Israel on Thursday that a recent Egyptian hostage deal proposal that was passed on to Hamas offered an extended ceasefire during which hostages in the “humanitarian” category would be released.
The official noted that the proposal is not for an end to the war, but an extended ceasefire that will allow the elderly, children, women, ill and badly wounded hostages to be released. The number of living hostages in this category is today understood to be fewer than the 33 that were previously discussed in talks (out of the 100 hostages, alive and dead, who remain in Gaza).
Hamas still has not indicated whether it is willing to discuss the proposal, but if it is, Israel will send a delegation to Cairo to negotiate, the official said.
Hamas has until now repeatedly refused agreements that do not include a permanent end to the war and a full withdrawal of Israeli troops, including from the Philadelphi Corridor. Hebrew media reports said Thursday that Hamas may be willing to show flexibility on these demands, though it has given no public indication of this.
The war was sparked on October 7, 2023, when thousands of Hamas-led terrorists swarmed into southern Israel, killing some 1,200 people and abducting 251.
Ninety-six of the 251 hostages abducted by Hamas on October 7 remain in Gaza, including the bodies of at least 34 confirmed dead by the IDF.
Hamas released 105 civilians during a weeklong truce in late November, and four hostages were released before that. Eight hostages have been rescued by troops alive, and the bodies of 38 hostages have also been recovered, including three mistakenly killed by the Israeli military as they tried to escape their captors.
Hamas is also holding two Israeli civilians who entered the Strip in 2014 and 2015, as well as the bodies of two IDF soldiers who were killed in 2014.
Lazar Berman contributed to this report.
