Former Lebanese Prime Minister, Fouad Siniora, said that he tends to think that Lebanon and Israel are “approaching the hour of reaching a ceasefire agreement,” and revealed leaks indicating that the Israelis requested more time in order to exhaust what remains of their bank of goals.
He pointed out that the negotiations between Lebanon and the Israeli occupation are taking place under the “nightmare of continued fire,” and that the Israelis used the American military arsenal of weapons and ammunition and targeted Lebanese civilians, causing them severe suffering.
Siniora explained – during his speech to Tel Aviv Tribune as part of the “Current Events” pause – that there is a need to reach a quick and permanent ceasefire, and “a need to implement Resolution 1701, and for the Lebanese state to be a guarantor, and nothing related to Lebanese sovereignty should be neglected.”
Regarding his position on what is currently proposed within the framework of the solution, Siniora said that Lebanon must stress the issue of a ceasefire, and at the same time it must have “a real willingness to abide by Resolution 1701,” noting that Israel did not implement the resolution when it was approved in 2006, and “Hezbollah did not implement it either.”
Regarding the committee that was proposed to follow up on the implementation of Resolution 1701, headed by the United States and with the membership of other countries, Siniora responded by saying: “If we had implemented Resolution 1701, we would have avoided reaching this matter,” stressing that there is a need to save Lebanon, because what it is being exposed to is “a very dangerous thing, and there is no “It could continue like this.”
Siniora stressed the necessity of electing a president for Lebanon through the implementation of the constitution, and “when the president is elected and a government with full powers arrives, it beats its chest and says, ‘I am responsible and I want to restore the confidence of the Lebanese in the Lebanese state. Enough of neglecting sovereignty and Lebanese interests.’”
On the other hand, and in his comment on the successive developments in Lebanon, especially the ongoing negotiations in light of the gunfire, political analyst Ali Haidar told the “Current of Events” pause that the Lebanese resistance imposed its equation and was able to change the Israeli approach to the Lebanese front, and force the occupation to give up its high ceiling. And acceptance of moving towards a settlement with the Lebanese side.
For his part, the expert on Israeli affairs, Dr. Muhannad Mustafa, explained that Israel’s strategic direction requires going to a settlement with Lebanon, noting that the ongoing escalation between Hezbollah and the occupation indicates the approaching settlement.
Detainees in Gaza
The “Track of Events” pause touched on the developments taking place in the issue of Israeli detainees held by the Palestinian resistance in the Gaza Strip, in light of the announcement by the Al-Qassam Brigades – the military wing of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) – yesterday of the killing of an Israeli prisoner due to the ongoing aggression against the northern Gaza Strip.
In this context, Dr. Mustafa confirmed that the issue of prisoners has recently returned strongly to the Israeli political and military scene, coupled with the beginning of a protest against the killing of Israeli soldiers in the Gaza Strip, indicating that Israelis have begun to wonder why soldiers go to Gaza to kill in vain, for political and ideological goals. .
He recalled that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is launching a major attack on the military and security establishment because of its position on the war, as it has come to believe that continuing the war on Gaza is futile, and that the Hamas movement has not abandoned its previous conditions.
For his part, researcher in political and strategic affairs, Saeed Ziad, explained that the Palestinian resistance was betting on the prisoners’ card to pressure the Israeli occupation, but it did not succeed in doing so, and he said that this card remains, nonetheless, because the prisoners were not all killed.
The resistance is also exhausting the occupation army and inflicting losses on it, which the Israelis cannot bear.
Regarding the position of US President-elect Donald Trump on the prisoner issue, Thomas Warwick, a former official in the US State Department for Middle East affairs, said that Trump “will adopt a tough stance towards the Hamas movement.”
After assuming power, he is likely to send teams to recover prisoners, especially those holding American citizenship and dual citizenship, noting that Washington had previously been content with providing intelligence information to Israel in order to find the detainees.
Researcher Ziad asked what cards Trump has to pressure Hamas, in light of the devastation inflicted on the Gaza Strip, stressing that Hamas rejects the idea of ending the war and keeping the Israeli occupation in the Strip, which is what Trump wants, according to Dr. Mustafa.
