In an unprecedented development, diplomatic sources informed "Nidaa Al-Watan" yesterday that the United States had been alerted through communication channels with Beirut that Hezbollah had made a new decision regarding the indirect negotiations between Lebanon and Israel concerning the land border between the two countries. This decision entails "removing" Speaker of Parliament Nabih Berri and caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati from the actual negotiations on the border file on behalf of Hezbollah.
This development coincided with a statement made yesterday by the caretaker Foreign Minister Abdullah Bouhabib, who called for "indirect negotiations to resolve the disputed points" on the land border between Lebanon and Israel. He noted that "U.S. envoy Amos Hochstein conveyed some ideas to us, but they are incomplete."
It remains unclear who will represent the communication channel between Hezbollah and the American side after Hezbollah's sidelining of the second and third presidencies from this task, noting that foreign negotiations are officially the exclusive domain of the President of the Republic, a position that has been vacant since the end of October 2022.
According to the mentioned diplomatic sources, there are factors that have emerged since the last position announced by Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah on October 3, just four days before the Gaza war. In his speech on the anniversary of the Prophet's birth, Nasrallah spoke about what he called "positive indicators" related to maritime exploration; however, it soon became clear that the results from drilling in Block 9 were negative.
Followers of the southern border file believe that Nasrallah's new position practically shifts the Lebanese-Israeli border file to the indirect U.S.-Iranian negotiations, suggesting that Hezbollah preempted rumors of a new initiative to be carried out by Hochstein in this regard.
In this context, the American envoy elaborated in an interview with CBS on the goal of his upcoming visit to Lebanon and Israel to defuse tension along the southern border and later address border disputes.
Additionally, Hochstein was asked in the same interview about the end-of-January deadline set by Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Galant for the American envoy to complete his mediation, including the request for Hezbollah to stay away from the border. He responded, "I do not know about hard deadlines, but we must try to resolve this issue diplomatically."
Hochstein's statement came on the eve of a new position from Galant, who announced yesterday that the Israeli army "will move very soon" in northern Israel along the border with Lebanon. Soldiers stationed near the border with Gaza were informed that they would leave the area to move north, according to "Agence France-Presse." Galant stated, "They will move very soon (...) So, reinforcements will be sent to the north." He indicated that reserve soldiers would leave their positions in preparation for these future operations.
Yesterday, Hezbollah claimed responsibility for ten attacks on Israeli army positions near the border using Iranian-made "Falaq 1" rockets, and the party mourned two members who fell during the confrontations.
