\n<\/p>\n
Israel has killed a senior Hezbollah commander in an attack on Beirut\u2019s southern suburbs, which comes only two days after Lebanon\u2019s president announced the country had succumbed to an Israeli pressure campaign and agreed to hold negotiations.<\/p>\n
Hezbollah confirmed that its chief of staff, Haytham Ali Tabtabai, was among five people killed and 28 others wounded in the Israeli strike on Beirut\u2019s Haret Hreik neighbourhood on Sunday.<\/p>\n list of 4 items<\/span>end of list<\/span><\/section>\n Israeli officials and media have warned of a renewed escalation against Lebanon in recent weeks, claiming Hezbollah is regrouping and rearming. Meanwhile, Lebanon\u2019s government has come under pressure from Israel via its main benefactor, the United States, as both countries urge it to move faster to disarm Hezbollah and meet with Israelis for direct talks.<\/p>\n Lebanon\u2019s leadership had pushed for indirect negotiations with Israel, even though the issue is divisive inside the country. Just two days before Israel\u2019s attack on Beirut\u2019s suburb, Lebanon\u2019s President Joseph Aoun addressed the issue.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Lebanese state is ready to negotiate under the UN, US or joint international sponsorship \u2013 any agreement that would establish a framework for a permanent end to transborder aggressions,\u201d Aoun announced on Friday from Tyr, a southern city that suffered extensive damage during last year\u2019s war.<\/p>\n Aoun did not say explicitly whether or not the talks would be direct. Analysts, however, told Al Jazeera that Israel\u2019s recent uptick in attacks indicates it is not looking to negotiate.<\/p>\n Israel \u201chas got the upper hand militarily at the moment, and they don\u2019t seem to be interested in negotiating in earnest\u201d, Nicholas Blanford, a nonresident senior fellow with the Atlantic Council, told Al Jazeera.<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019re quite happy sniping away at Hezbollah on a daily basis \u2026 Lebanon is doing what they can under the circumstances, but I don\u2019t think they have a willing interlocutor in the Israelis at this stage.\u201d<\/p>\n Despite an ostensible ceasefire, Israel has intensified attacks in Lebanon\u2019s south and Bekaa Valley in recent days. At least 13 people were killed by an Israeli strike on Lebanon\u2019s largest Palestinian refugee camp last week, in an attack that killed mostly children and marked the highest death toll in a single strike since a ceasefire was agreed in November last year.<\/p>\n Israel has killed more than 300 people in Lebanon since then, including around 127 civilians, according to the United Nations. It also continues to occupy at least five points in south Lebanon, despite the ceasefire stating Israel would withdraw its troops from Lebanese territory.<\/p>\n \u201cThe problem is that Israel is not interested in negotiating at the moment. It wants to eliminate Hezbollah or push the Lebanese army into a clash with the party,\u201d Kassem Kassir, a Lebanese journalist close to Hezbollah, told Al Jazeera.<\/p>\n \u201cEvery time Aoun or [Prime Minister Nawaf] Salam talk about negotiations, Israel escalates its aggression.\u201d<\/p>\n Tabtabai\u2019s killing marks the highest-ranking Hezbollah target killed since the ceasefire. The attack also came a week to the day before Pope Leo XIV\u2019s planned visit to the country and a day after Lebanon mutedly celebrated its 82nd independence day.<\/p>\n US and Israeli officials have warned Lebanon of an intensification should the country not move faster to disarm Hezbollah. In August, Lebanon\u2019s cabinet approved a plan to have the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) disarm Hezbollah and bring the group\u2019s weapons under the state\u2019s control. Hezbollah has refused to relinquish its weapons, saying the move serves Israel.<\/p>\n Still, the Lebanese army has been criticised by some US officials for moving too slowly in disarming Hezbollah. Analysts say the Lebanese government has also been criticised for failing to establish a political consensus on the divisive issue.<\/p>\n But Israel\u2019s actions are undermining the Lebanese government\u2019s efforts, according to analysts. After Lebanon\u2019s cabinet approved the plan to disarm Hezbollah, US Special Envoy Tom Barrack visited Israel in an effort to get its military to stop attacks and withdraw troops from the Lebanese territory. He came back empty-handed.<\/p>\n The US recently cancelled a planned trip by Lebanon\u2019s army chief Rodolphe Haykal to Washington, DC after the LAF issued a statement critical of Israel. Haykal had previously proposed suspending LAF operations on disarming Hezbollah until Israel stops its attacks.<\/p>\n \u201cIf Israel actively wants to enter and succeed in negotiations, it should demonstrate good faith in entering, and ways for that would be to at least reduce attacks on Lebanese territory or withdraw from some points in the south. They could create a positive dynamic to develop a consensus,\u201d David Wood, the International Crisis Group\u2019s senior analyst for Lebanon, told Al Jazeera.<\/p>\n Since last November\u2019s ceasefire, Hezbollah has only responded to Israeli attacks once. Under its new Secretary-General Naim Qassem, the group has largely shown restraint.<\/p>\n Still, there are concerns in Lebanon that the group may decide to soon change tactics.<\/p>\n \u201cThere is definitely a mood to strike back against the Israelis, not just from today\u2019s attack but in general,\u201d Blanford said. \u201cBut they know very well that if they do, the Israelis will escalate, and no one in Lebanon will thank Hezbollah for doing that.\u201d<\/p>\n Israel\u2019s military superiority and its US backing leave Hezbollah and the Lebanese state with few choices. Currently in Lebanon, the issue of negotiations with Israel and Hezbollah\u2019s disarmament is divisive.<\/p>\n Analysts said many in the country fervently oppose direct negotiations, though the government has expressed a willingness to enter indirect talks, similar to 2022\u2019s maritime agreement between Israel and Lebanon.<\/p>\n Many in Lebanon, including Hezbollah\u2019s supporters, say they would be open to seeing Israel withdraw its troops from southern Lebanon and demarcate the border. Few welcome a renewed aggression, suggesting diplomacy as a likely preference.<\/p>\n But analysts say that would require Israel to respect the agreements it enters into, including the various ceasefire deals it has repeatedly violated.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat we\u2019ve seen since the ceasefire is that Israel speaks more loudly with actions than words,\u201d Wood said. \u201cOpponents [of negotiations] can point to Israel\u2019s behaviour in Lebanon, Syria and Gaza, and say Israel is not bound by its own agreements.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Israel has killed a senior Hezbollah commander in an attack on Beirut\u2019s southern suburbs, which comes only two days after Lebanon\u2019s president announced the country had succumbed to an Israeli pressure campaign and agreed to hold negotiations. Hezbollah confirmed that its chief of staff, Haytham Ali Tabtabai, was among five people killed and 28 others […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3118,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3117","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-middle-east-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3117","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3117"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3117\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3118"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3117"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3117"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3117"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Recommended Stories <\/h2>\n
Israel has \u2018the upper hand\u2019<\/h2>\n
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<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"