October 16, 2024
By Nasser Kandil
• Prime Minister Najib Mikati stated that he received assurances from the Americans about de-escalating strikes on Beirut and the southern suburbs. This statement cannot be separated from the information suggesting that U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken proposed a partial truce: neutralising Beirut and the southern suburbs in exchange for the resistance refraining from targeting Haifa.
• Despite these negotiations, the resistance has continued its strikes on Haifa and Tel Aviv, fully aware that the occupying entity could resume attacks on the southern suburbs and Beirut at any moment. Meanwhile, the political and military leadership of the entity has made no official commitment to halt strikes on Beirut and the southern suburbs. Yet, the reality remains that the shelling continues on Haifa and Tel Aviv, while Beirut and the southern suburbs have not been targeted for days.
• This indicates that the U.S. proposal for mutual neutrality is still in effect, and the occupying entity is adhering to its part of the deal to present a facade of seriousness. Their hope is that the Americans can secure Hezbollah’s reciprocal commitment to the same.
• However, Hezbollah is advocating for a complete ceasefire, not the selective neutrality of the capital and the southern suburbs. The resistance does not distinguish between different regions of Lebanon, and it is well aware that if Haifa and Tel Aviv are spared, the occupying entity would willingly engage in a prolonged conflict in its settlements so long as it can continue targeting southern Lebanon. Therefore, achieving a comprehensive ceasefire hinges on maintaining pressure on Haifa and Tel Aviv, rather than granting them respite.
• This temporary de-escalation may not last, but it could offer an opening for ending the war entirely, rather than just giving them an opportunity to prolong the conflict by imposing their conditions in the south and continuing their destruction of the south and the Bekaa Valley, while keeping their interior calm.
• The value of this de-escalation offer lies in what it has revealed to both the resistance and the Lebanese people, which is the significance of the resistance’s missile strikes on Haifa and Tel Aviv. This is precisely what Sheikh Naim Qassem meant when he said that the current objective of the resistance is to cause pain to the enemy. And that pain is being felt in Haifa and Tel Aviv. After only a few days, these strikes have already prompted such offers. What would happen if they continued for weeks? And what if they expanded into residential and economic areas, mirroring the ruthless attacks of the occupier on Lebanon?
