Hochstein in Tel Aviv, Meeting Netanyahu Today, as the Agreement Faces Lebanon’s Sovereignty Test /  Qassem: Tel Aviv for Beirut, and After the War… Taif, the Presidency, Reconstruction, and the Trinity

 November 21, 2024

The political editor wrote

The regional spotlight remained fixed on the Middle East despite global anxiety over nuclear escalation. This tension followed U.S. President Joe Biden’s authorisation of Ukraine’s use of American long-range missiles to target Russian territory and Russian President Vladimir Putin’s response by amending Russia’s nuclear doctrine to permit the use of nuclear force in response to existential threats posed by another nuclear power.

In the Middle East, the focus turned to New York, where Washington vetoed a UN Security Council resolution that had garnered unanimous support for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. Legal experts described the U.S. veto as embodying a model of terrorism under the United Nations’ legal definitions, which include exposing civilians to violence and danger to achieve political goals. By blocking the ceasefire, the U.S. effectively sanctioned the continuation of a war that has claimed over 50,000 lives and injured more than 100,000, all under the pretext of demanding the release of hostages held by Hamas. This demand, tied to a political objective, has endangered two million Palestinian civilians in Gaza. Legal experts further noted that U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken had previously hinted at such a trade-off when he stated that Hamas’s acceptance of the U.S. proposal would ensure the delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza. Any linkage between fundamental human rights – such as survival, food, and medicine – and achieving political objectives constitutes terrorism under legal definitions.

Meanwhile, the region is closely watching U.S. envoy Amos Hochstein’s visit to Beirut and Tel Aviv. After leaving Beirut optimistic, Hochstein arrived in Tel Aviv, where he is set to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu today. Members of Netanyahu’s cabinet have been vocal about conditioning any ceasefire agreement on maintaining Israeli encroachments on Lebanese sovereignty. In contrast, Hochstein left Beirut to the echo of Hezbollah Deputy Secretary-General Sheikh Naim Qassem’s remarks emphasising that Lebanese sovereignty is the guiding principle for any ceasefire proposal. Qassem declared that the Resistance holds the decisive power on the ground and sets the equation of Tel Aviv for Beirut, following repeated Israeli strikes on the Lebanese capital.

Looking to the post-war phase, Qassem stated that Hezbollah would resume its active political engagement, focusing on reconstruction, operating under the framework of the Taif Agreement, and supporting the election of a president through constitutional mechanisms. He reaffirmed Hezbollah’s commitment to the trinity principle of “The People, the Army, and the Resistance” as a cornerstone of Lebanon’s future.