Hotline Between Awkar and Tel Aviv Over Withdrawal Details and Cease of Airspace Violations /  Occupying Army Collapses Lead to Withdrawals on the Shamaa, Khiam, and Bint Jbeil Fronts

 November 20, 2024

The political editor wrote

Since the retreat from Amos Hochstein’s earlier diva tactics hinting that his visit to Beirut might not happen to apply pressure and extract concessions – and the subsequent confirmation of his visit, the trajectory of the negotiations has been shaped by an increasingly exhausted Israeli side, struggling to sustain the war effort. On the ground, dramatic developments are unfolding as the occupying forces face accumulated failures to penetrate resistance lines or hold newly reached positions. The Israeli military appears to have lost its combat morale and is unable to maintain cohesion on the frontlines.

Simultaneously, a critical shift in firepower balance occurred when the resistance struck Tel Aviv’s depths with a precise, guided ballistic missile that Israeli air defences failed to intercept. This raised significant questions: what if a barrage of rockets from Lebanon began targeting the occupying entity’s interior?

Negotiation dynamics echoed this reality. Hochstein abandoned earlier proposals, such as an international supervisory committee for Resolution 1701, dropping Germany and Britain’s involvement and instead agreeing to tie it strictly to UN Security Council provisions. Similarly, he relented on the dubious “right to self-defence” clause. Discussions transitioned to late-night meetings at the U.S. Embassy in Awkar between Hochstein and Ali Hamdan, advisor to Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, with a direct hotline to Tel Aviv conveying every detail to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Talks focused on border withdrawal specifics, disputed territories, appropriate language for agreements, and halting violations of Lebanese airspace and waters. Notably, demands for unrestricted Israeli military and security movements, along with calls to internationalise the Lebanese-Syrian border, were also dropped.

Operational updates from resistance command centres highlighted mass withdrawals by occupying forces from the Shamaa and Teir Harfa axes in the western sector, as well as from Khiam and Bint Jbeil fronts. Israeli media circulated reports of dozens of soldiers fleeing the frontlines and widespread refusal by reservists and officers to respond to mobilisation calls.