Israel Gives Deadline For Settlement Of Politics With Lebanon Next Week

UNSPLASH/Charbel Karam/Beirut ILLUSTRATION, Lebanon

JAKARTA - Israel designated March 15 as a deadline for a political settlement with Lebanon or it would escalate fighting on the border with Hezbollah into war, according to the Al-Akhbar newspaper.

The Lebanese newspaper said Tel Aviv told mediators it would carry out a full-scale war in Lebanon if there was no agreement to see Hezbollah leave the border until March 15.

Earlier on Wednesday (6/3), Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said a special United States ruling by Amos Hochstein that cross-border fighting with Hezbollah would see Israel decide to carry out military action in Lebanon.

The Al-Akhbar newspaper, citing Western officials, said Hochstein was unsure that the cross-border fighting between Hezbollah and Israel could be stopped before a ceasefire agreement was reached in the Gaza Strip.

On Monday (4/3), Hochstein said a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip may not necessarily stop cross-border fighting between Israeli soldiers and Hezbollah.

There has been no statement from Hezbollah or Lebanese authorities regarding the report.

Tensions raged along the border between Lebanon and Israel amid a shootout between Israeli forces and Hezbollah.

The fighting was the deadliest clash since both sides were involved in a full-scale war in 2006.

Tensions on the border come amid an Israeli military offensive in the Gaza Strip that killed more than 30,800 people, following a Hamas attack on October 7, 2023.

At least 300 people have been thought to have died in Israeli attacks in Lebanon since clashes first erupted last October. Meanwhile, nearly 20 Israelis have also been killed, according to Israeli data.