In the wake of Iranian pressure during Swiss diplomatic talks with the U.S., Israel on Sunday paused a major military offensive against Hezbollah’s main tunnel complex in southern Lebanon.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) halted its offensive aimed at clearing a vast underground network near the Crusader-era fortress of Beaufort, amid reports that hundreds of Hezbollah terrorists had been cornered in the terror tunnel complex built to invade northern Israel. The New York Times observed that “The fighting between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah appeared to ease on Sunday, a day after the Israeli government directed the military to restrict itself to defensive actions only in Lebanon.”
With the IDF facing Hezbollah with its hands tied, Vice President JD Vance, who is leading negotiations with Iran, hailed “great progress” in the talks. Vance touted Iran’s decision to readmit United Nations nuclear inspectors, calling it a “major milestone.”
“The Iranians have agreed to invite IAEA inspectors back into their country,” he told reporters on Monday. It is worth noting that Iranians have spent years deceiving and blindsiding these very UN inspectors.
CNBC News reported the vice president’s upbeat remarks:
Talks between the U.S. and Iran have made “great progress” despite “threatening” and “whining,” U.S Vice President JD Vance has said.Speaking on Monday, Vance said the talks in Bürgenstock, Switzerland, were continuing and Tehran had agreed to permit International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors back into Iran. The talks were strained over the weekend when Iran announced it had closed the Strait of Hormuz over Israeli strikes on Lebanon, saying these violated the ceasefire.“Yes, there was a little bit of threatening, there was a little bit of whining, but at the end of the day, the talks continued, and we made great progress,” Vance told reporters.
From the nuclear weapons program to Hezbollah’s hold over Lebanon, Iran is using these negotiations to seize what it failed to win in the war.
As part of the ongoing U.S.-Iran talks, a new “conflict resolution mechanism” has been unveiled by Iranian allies Pakistan and Qatar. This mechanism seeks to give Iran a direct role in Lebanese affairs. Israel, directly threatened by Lebanon-based Hezbollah terrorists, has been kept out of the arrangement. According to Israel’s Ynetnews, “Iran says it will help supervise implementation in Lebanon while Israel is not listed as a direct member.”
The scheme has been devised to restrict Israeli military response to future Hezbollah’s aggressions, The Times of Israel notes:
A new deconfliction mechanism for Lebanon established as part of the weekend negotiations between the US and Iran in Switzerland would exclude Israel and limit Israeli military action to only responding to “imminent threats,” rather than to the broader category of “emerging threats,” Channel 12 reports, without citing sources.
Responding to the news, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected any outside ‘restrictions’ on IDF troops facing Hezbollah terrorists in the north. “IDF troops in southern Lebanon have full freedom of operation to engage any direct or emerging threat to them or to the residents of northern Israel,” he said on Monday. “The IDF has no restrictions in this regard.”
According to IDF Chief of Staff, Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, peace can’t return to northern Israel as long as Hezbollah remains entrenched in terror tunnels along the border. “We continue to fight. Our objective remains clear—defending the communities in northern Israel and Israeli civilians,” he assured on Sunday. “This is the purpose guiding all of our efforts; the operations in the Ali al-Taher and Beaufort areas are also intended to serve this goal.”
“We are paying a heavy price in defending our home,” Lt. Gen. Zamir said. With Iran pledging to rebuild Hezbollah using billions in unfrozen U.S. assets, the IDF chief doubted that the ceasefire would last. “The ceasefire that has been declared is fragile,” he concluded.
CLICK HERE FOR FULL VERSION OF THIS STORY