![Israel must continue to be able to deter Hezbollah, Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar stressed on Wednesday, speaking amid efforts to reach a ceasefire with Iran's Lebanese terrorist proxy. "We need to keep the freedom to act if there will be violations. And we will have to act in time, before the problem will grow," the minister told a gathering of nearly 100 foreign ambassadors in Jerusalem, the Times of Israel reported. A deal to end more than a year of fighting on the northern border must be durable, Sa'ar said, saying Jerusalem “would like to reach an agreement that will stand the test of time." He added that a ceasefire would be an "opportunity" for Lebanon to regain its sovereignty after the Israeli military severely degraded the Iranian-backed group in recent months. He called for the Lebanese Armed Forces to be strengthened and urged the international community to invest more in the economically devastated country, which is drowning in debt following years of mismanagement and corruption. Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz also emphasized on Wednesday the necessity for Jerusalem to be able to act against any Hezbollah threats that may arise after a ceasefire deal is implemented. “The condition for any political settlement in Lebanon is the preservation of the intelligence capability and the preservation of the [IDF’s] right to act and protect the citizens of Israel from Hezbollah,” Katz said. Meanwhile, U.S. special envoy Amos Hochstein remained in Beirut for a second day on Wednesday to discuss "technical details" of an American ceasefire proposal with Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, who heads the Hezbollah-allied Amal movement. President Joe Biden's point man in the Land of the Cedars announced he would travel to Israel on Wednesday night, speaking after he made "additional progress" in a second meeting with Berri. Hochstein was scheduled to meet with Israeli Minister of Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer shortly after his arrival, followed by a tête-à-tête with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu the following day. “The meeting today built on the meeting yesterday, and made additional progress,” Hochstein said. “So I will travel from here in a couple hours to Israel to try to bring this to a close if we can.” The Biden envoy added that he will work with the incoming Trump administration on ceasefire efforts, saying that he has kept the president-elect's transition team informed of progress. Hochstein described as "very productive" his meetings with Lebanese officials on Tuesday. “We have a real opportunity to end the conflict, and now is the moment to decide. We are committed to doing everything we can to work with Lebanon and Israel to end this conflict,” Hochstein said at a press conference on Tuesday. Hochstein also met on Tuesday with Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati, and he was scheduled to meet with Lebanese Armed Forces commander Gen. Joseph Aoun. Mikati emphasized that Lebanon’s primary objectives are achieving a ceasefire and safeguarding its sovereignty. He highlighted the need to implement international resolutions and bolster the Lebanese Armed Forces in the southern part of the country. Lebanon delivered its written response to the latest U.S. proposal on Monday. According to Ali Hassan Khalil, an aide to Berri, the response included “comments” that were “presented in a positive atmosphere.” He did not provide details on the nature of the comments, saying only that they “affirm the precise adherence to [U.N. Security Council] Resolution 1701 with all its provisions,” according to Reuters. Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem said in a speech on Wednesday that the terrorist group had "read the ceasefire proposal. "We have our comments, and Nabih Berri has comments, and ours and the Lebanese government's comments are, Inshallah ['God willing'], identical," Qassem said. "We have decided not to discuss these ceasefire proposals or our comments in the media. All I will say is that Israeli is trying to obtain through negotiations what it couldn't through war." The terrorist leader vowed to “continue our efforts on the ground, whether the negotiations succeed or not. “We are confronting a savage enemy, and we will remain on the ground, no matter the cost, as we will also increase the cost for the enemy. We are facing Israeli human monsters supported by American human monsters,” threatened Qassem. Disarm and retreat Resolution 1701, which ended the 2006 Second Lebanon War, stipulated that Hezbollah must disarm and retreat north of the Litani River, but was never enforced. The Litani lies some 20 miles from the Israel-Lebanon border. Its enforcement, along with Israeli freedom of operation in Lebanon should Hezbollah violate the terms of a ceasefire agreement, are the key sticking points in the current negotiations. Netanyahu emphasized during a speech in the Knesset plenum on Monday that Israel will not allow Hezbollah to “return to the state it was in on Oct. 6, 2023. “We will be required, in order to ensure our security in the north, to systematically carry out operations—not only against Hezbollah’s attacks, which could come. Even if there is a ceasefire, nobody can guarantee it will hold. So it’s not only our reaction, a preventive reaction, a reaction in the wake of attack but also the capacity to prevent Hezbollah from strengthening,” he said. Hezbollah has launched some 16,000 rockets, missiles and drones from Lebanon at Israel since joining the war in support of Hamas on Oct. 8, 2023, a day after the Gaza-based terrorist group’s massacre in southern Israel. More than 60,000 residents of northern Israel remain internally displaced due to the ongoing rocket and drone attacks from Lebanon. Seventy-six people in northern Israel have been killed by Hezbollah cross-border rocket, missile and drone attacks since the start of the war, including 31 soldiers and six foreign citizens, according to the latest data provided by the Prime Minister’s Office, updated on Sunday. In addition, 729 people have been wounded, including 497 civilians and 232 soldiers. Of these, 29 civilians and 37 soldiers were severely injured; 63 civilians and 38 soldiers were moderately injured and 405 civilians and 157 soldiers were lightly injured. Hezbollah’s leadership has been left in tatters following a series of targeted killings by Israel, including that of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in Beirut on Sept. 27. This was preceded by Israeli sabotage of Hezbollah communication devices that killed 39 people and wounded more than 3,400 members of the terrorist group. Israel has been waging a devastating aerial campaign against Hezbollah throughout Lebanon, including its stronghold of Dahieh south of Beirut. According to Israeli estimates, the terrorist group has lost most of its arsenal to the ongoing strikes. Then-Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said in late October that Hezbollah had lost an estimated 80%-plus of its long-range rockets since the start of the war. Israel also continues to battle Hamas terrorists in Gaza. The terrorist group still holds 101 hostages in the Strip, 97 of whom were kidnapped on Oct. 7. Many of the captives are believed to be dead. Brazil summit Meanwhile, G20 leaders gathered in Rio de Janeiro for a summit put out a joint statement on Monday calling for “comprehensive” ceasefires in Gaza and Lebanon. The leaders of the world’s biggest economies called for U.S. proposals to end fighting in Gaza and free the hostages, and one for Lebanon “that enables citizens to return safely to their homes on both sides of the Blue Line.” The 13-point U.S. proposal presented to Lebanese officials on Nov. 14 includes a 60-day truce, during which Lebanon would redeploy its troops along the border. The proposal also calls for Moscow to prevent Hezbollah from resupplying itself via Syrian land routes. Hezbollah would retreat north of the Litani River, with the border area then being under control of the Lebanese Armed Forces, overseen by the United States and Britain. Israeli officials are emphasizing, however, that the Israel Defense Forces must retain freedom of operation in Lebanon to thwart attempts by Hezbollah to violate the agreement and rearm and reestablish itself. A senior Israeli diplomatic official told Israel Hayom on Saturday that the IDF will retain operational freedom to respond to any security threats from across the northern border, regardless of any diplomatic arrangements. However, a source close to Hezbollah told The Washington Post that the group’s “condition for progress remains clear: Israel must be prohibited from conducting operations within Lebanese territory.” Berri emphasized at the time that any ceasefire agreement must not include the ability for Israel to attack by land, sea or air, Channel 12 reported. “Otherwise, what’s the purpose of an agreement?” he remarked. Another sticking point is Lebanon’s objection to the United Kingdom and Germany monitoring the implementation of U.N. Resolution 1701. Beirut reportedly favors the United States and France. If the ceasefire efforts fail, there are plans in the works to expand ground operations in Lebanon, an Israeli military official told the Post. Israel’s Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer discussed the proposal with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump during a visit to his Florida estate earlier this month, as well as with senior Biden administration officials in Washington. Dermer also traveled to Russia to discuss the ceasefire proposal. Tehran is telling its Lebanese terrorist proxy Hezbollah that it supports ending the war against Israel, The New York Times reported over the weekend. Ali Larijani, senior adviser to Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, met with senior Lebanese officials in Beirut on Nov. 15 to discuss the matter. Two Iranians affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps told the Times that Larijani conveyed messages to Hezbollah from Khamenei that he supported the end of the war and that the regime would assist with rebuilding the terrorist group’s forces and recovering from the war.](https://jewishwebsite.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Gideon-Saar-1320x880-2-218x150.jpg "Sa’ar: Israel must be free to act against Hezbollah truce violations")
She helped lead the backchannel effort to get Israeli and Palestine Liberation Organization leaders in the same room to hash out an interim agreement that was to serve as a basis for peace. Nearly 30 years later, the Oslo Accords have been seen alternately as historic or tragic, with plenty of blame—or credit, depending on one’s perspective—to go around for the agreement’s failure to lead to a durable political settlement.
But Mona Juul, now Norway’s ambassador to the United Nations, told JNS that she is determined not to let the prospect of peace die. And she’s using her pulpit this month as president of the U.N. Security Council to focus on the conflict.
“It’s obvious the two-state solution is the only solution, and there are prescriptions on what that solution could look like. What is lacking, of course, is the necessary political will on both sides to compromise and to find that common solution,” she added.
What is obvious is that Juul is still serious about pursuing peace, even if the road map on how to get there isn’t any clearer than it was three decades ago.
Still, Juul intimated that she has gained some measure of optimism through recent developments, including the December visit of Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas to the home of Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz, along with additional agreements on building permits, work permits and discussions on economic initiatives.
“I am fully aware of all the challenges [on obtaining consensus on the issue at the Security Council], but we are not giving up the trust that we have in both sides to get back to the table because this situation, as it is now, the status quo is not sustainable in the long run, and we think that only a two-state solution can really solve the conflict,” said Juul, despite Israeli Prime Minister’s public and repeated proclamations that a Palestinian state will not be formed on his watch, coupled with Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid’s statement that the government will not pursue a political settlement, per the governing coalition agreements, when he is scheduled to rotate into the prime minister’s chair in late 2023.
She added, “I’m not going to characterize the views of neither the Israeli nor the Palestinian government. They are very capable of expressing themselves. I don’t think we have ever been in a position to push too hard, but we are consistent in our wish for a negotiated settlement.”
Palestinians need ‘to do what is necessary’ to advance peace
The core areas of disagreement—borders, settlements, Jerusalem, the Palestinian so-called “right of return”—remain after all of these years. Interestingly, Juul said in a recent interview with The New Arab that she does not think settlements are an “insurmountable issue.”
“Our position, when it comes to settlement, is very clear—that we think that they are in contradiction with international law, but we have to be pragmatic when we are looking at ways of finding a solution. A solution is a compromise, and I have the trust in the parties that there will always be a way to be found also on this contentious very contentious issue,” she told JNS.
Meanwhile, Norway has twice cut funding to the Palestinian Authority over the last year for issues related to incitement and violence against Jews, including in the school curriculum. Juul said it is an example of Norway holding the P.A. to account, insisting that it uphold its end of the bargain when it comes to the pursuit of peace.
“I think we are continuing to send messages to both sides, including to the Palestinian Authority, on the need for them to do what is necessary in order to get back up to the table. And as a coordinator of the donor community, we—together with other countries—require that the Palestinians do their part to reform within the Palestinian Authority, and we are very clear with them about them. But we maintain good relations,” said Juul, telling JNS that she is pushing both the Israelis and Palestinians equally, despite Norway’s positions in the Security Council, which are often much harsher in its assessment of Israel’s conduct.
As Juul indicated, Norway, which serves as the Security Council pen-holder on the Israeli-Palestinian file, coordinates donor assistance to the Palestinians, including to the much-beleaguered United Nations Relief Works Agency (UNRWA), the U.N. agency that handles Palestinian refugees and their decedents. The agency has been accused of perpetuating the conflict as well as promoting anti-Semitism and incitement.
“I think the refugee issue is one of the final-status issues that also needs to be resolved in order to have a two-state solution. There have been talks; there have been efforts going on for almost 30 years in order to find a solution. We know that there are also solutions to be found on this issue. I’m not in a position to describe to the Palestinians or the Israelis to tell them how this could be found, but I think it is the only way forward is to get them together and see if they could find a solution,” she said.
So, three decades in, Juul will keep pressing, and her country will attempt to play ringmaster in the Jan. 19 Security Council debate on the issue, which, very much like the peace process itself, continues to produce the same result.
What has changed recently is the signing of the Abraham Accords in September 2020 between Israel, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain. Thomas-Greenfield intimated that more could be accomplished for peace and security if the Security Council placed an emphasis on the disastrous situations in Syria, Lebanon and Yemen; the fragility of Iraq; and the threat of Iran—as opposed to continuing its laser-focus on every clash or construction plan in Jerusalem. Juul seemed in agreement that the Abraham Accords is beneficial, but largely as a tool to redouble efforts to solve the intractable Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
“We are pushing for that [an expanded Israeli-Arab circle of peace], and we pushed for the normalization agreement with the United Arab Emirates and other Arab states. We have said very much that we welcome those, and we think it could be an opportunity that has to be used,” she said. “So far, we haven’t seen much of that, but I really hope that can be used because we need a solution to this Israeli-Palestinian conflict and we need the support from the region on such a solution.”