February 17, 2025
By Nasser Kandil
• The United States was the sole mediator in brokering the ceasefire agreement in southern Lebanon and served as the primary reference overseeing the mediation in Gaza, working alongside its allies, Egypt and Qatar. In the Lebanese agreement, Washington, along with France, was a guarantor of its proper implementation, just as it was in Gaza alongside Egypt and Qatar.
• Yet, when it came time to enforce these agreements, Israel began manipulating their terms and violating them, both in Lebanon and Gaza. The United States acknowledged these violations, at least in Lebanon, but did nothing to stop them.
• Worse still, Washington gradually aligned itself with Israel in breaching the agreements, going as far as introducing conditions that were never part of the original texts, despite being the very party that drafted them, assuming the role of mediator and later, guarantor.
• U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s statements on the Gaza agreement, which explicitly stipulates ending the war, now tie its implementation to the complete political and military dismantling of Hamas. This effectively nullifies the agreement and reignites the war. This same condition had previously been an Israeli demand that obstructed negotiations, preventing an agreement in the first place.
• In Lebanon, Tom Harb, the director of the American Mideast Coalition, echoed a similar message, revealing that “Congress is sending Lebanon a message: disarm militias within six months in exchange for aid”. His remarks align with a fresh demand from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who, following a meeting with Rubio, called on the Lebanese government to dismantle Hezbollah and disarm it.
• It is now evident that Washington does not merely supply weapons and funding to the occupying entity, enabling its savage wars and shielding it from accountability for its crimes. It is also willing to undermine its own credibility as a global power. For the sake of Israel, the U.S. has no qualms about disregarding its own signatures on international agreements, abandoning its role as a guarantor, and sending a clear message: Yes, we signed, but Israel’s interests take precedence over credibility.
• So when we say that the United States cannot be trusted as a mediator or guarantor in agreements concerning Israel – believe us.
