France has issued a written proposal to Lebanon which seeks to de-escalate the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon's south, which stands on the precipice of becoming a broader and deadlier war.
The French plan calls for Hezbollah to remove its fighters a full 10km from the border, after which the governments of Lebanon and Israel would enter negotiations on expanding a buffer zone "in a gradual way". The document calls for these talks to begin 10 days after Hezbollah's draw back from the border.
The ultimate goal, according to the proposal, would be to achieve ceasefire based on an de-escalation zone which expands 30km from the border up to the Litani River, based on the similar 2006 peace plan which settled the war then.
The document emphasizes that this conflict "risks spiraling out of control" while urging the implementation of "a potential ceasefire, when the conditions are right" and calls for delineating deconflicted land between the two sides.
However, just hours after the French plan was reported in international press, Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah gave a televised speech Tuesday and warned that Hezbollah will not stop its attacks on Israeli troops until the assault on Gaza is ended.
He additionally threatened the further displacement of residents of Northern Israel, according to Reuters. This has been a key issue for Israeli leadership, given dozens of communities had to be evacuated since last October, and some 80,000 Israeli citizens have been forced out of their homes due to the Hezbollah rocket and mortar barrages.
Nasrallah in the speech appeared to indirectly complain about French and Western delegations coming to Beirut while talking peace plans:
Nasrallah complained about the international delegations that came to Lebanon in recent weeks in an attempt to calm the situation, saying that they were only concerned with protecting Israel and refused to address Hezbollah's demands.
"The front in southern Lebanon is a front of support, assistance, solidarity, and participation in weakening the Israeli enemy until it reaches the point where it is convinced that it must stop its aggression," the Hezbollah leader, who is seen as close to Iran, vowed. "This front will only stop when the aggression against Gaza stops within an agreement with the Palestinian resistance."
Included in the speech was hint at massive escalation against northern Israel...
⚡️Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah: The israeli Minister of Security must realize that if we war is launched against us, there will be two million displaced settlers from the north, not just the hundred thousand currently evacuated.
— War Monitor (@WarMonitors) February 13, 2024
"Lebanon is in a strong and proactive position," Nasrallah insisted. However, Lebanese authorities will see it differently, and are worried on a daily basis that the conflict will spread to engulf the entire country, as happened in 2006. Israel is also in a tough spot - given the rising pressure to do something definitive about the emptied northern communities - while Israeli citizens remain internally displaced.
