President Joe Biden joined French President Emmanuel Macron and several other nations Wednesday evening in proposing a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah — just as Israel had begun to destroy the terrorist organization.
The text of the ceasefire demand fails to mention Hezbollah, calling only on the government of Lebanon and Israel to comply. It also does not mention Iran, which is the country that arms, funds, and trains Hezbollah’s terrorists.
Hezbollah broke an existing ceasefire in October, when it began shooting at Israel last October. The ceasefire, under United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701 of 2006, required Hezbollah to disarm and leave the border.
The United Nations failed to enforce the ceasefire, allowing Hezbollah to build up forces in southern Lebanon. Israel evacuated over 60,000 citizens from their homes in October, but focused its military efforts on Hamas in Gaza.
It began fighting back in earnest last week. As Breitbart News reported, Israel disrupted Hezbollah’s communications, killed many of its senior officials, and destroyed some of its weapons, and was preparing for a ground invasion.
With world leaders descending on the United Nations this week, the Security Council held a meeting on the crisis, and the Biden administration joined several other nations in proposing a 21-day ceasefire, leading to a permanent deal.
The U.S and France issued a “Joint Statement by the United States, Australia, Canada, European Union, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, Qatar,” which said:
The situation between Lebanon and Israel since October 8th, 2023 is intolerable and presents an unacceptable risk of a broader regional escalation. This is in nobody’s interest, neither of the people of Israel nor of the people of Lebanon.
It is time to conclude a diplomatic settlement that enables civilians on both sides of the border to return to their homes in safety.
Diplomacy however cannot succeed amid an escalation of this conflict.
Thus we call for an immediate 21 day ceasefire across the Lebanon-Israel border to provide space for diplomacy towards the conclusion of a diplomatic settlement consistent with UNSCR 1701, and the implementation of UNSCR 2735 regarding a ceasefire in Gaza
We call on all parties, including the Governments of Israel and Lebanon, to endorse the temporary ceasefire immediately consistent with UNSCR 1701 during this period, and to give a real chance to a diplomatic settlement.
We are then prepared to fully support all diplomatic efforts to conclude an agreement between Lebanon and Israel within this period, building on efforts over the last months, that ends this crisis altogether.
Biden’s envoy, Ambassador Amos Hochstein, failed to broker a diplomatic agreement over the last year. He was described Wednesday by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office as “talented” but unable to resolve the crisis.
According to reports, Hezbollah demanded that Israel abandon a mountainside observation post on the Israeli side of the border — meaning that Israel, not Hezbollah, would have to demilitarize the border, leaving itself vulnerable.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of The Agenda: What Trump Should Do in His First 100 Days, available for pre-order on Amazon. He is also the author of The Trumpian Virtues: The Lessons and Legacy of Donald Trump’s Presidency, now available on Audible. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.