The Battle of “Ali al-Taher” Across Southern Lebanon... Will the Dahiyeh Equation Hold? (Al-Modon)
Al-Modon newspaper reported that “Lebanon is in a state of anticipation over how matters between Washington and Tehran will unfold, while awaiting whether the conditions for the eighth round of negotiations will mature and the session will be held. After Lebanon hinted at refusing to participate in the eighth round, the United States worked to persuade it to do so. However, the surprise came with the Israeli position, as, according to diplomatic information, Israel refuses to participate in the negotiations unless the Lebanese state agrees to enter Ali al-Taher Hill, take it over from Hezbollah, and push the party to withdraw from it”.
The newspaper added: “Israel wants to set new parameters for the negotiations, including reopening economic files and determining how security coordination would take place, particularly since Israel considers the pilot-areas model to have failed, as long as the Lebanese Army has not moved to disarm the party and dismantle its military infrastructure, while the process of searching private homes and properties remains suspended. Lebanon, meanwhile, holds Israel responsible for obstructing the pilot areas due to the continued occupation and attacks”.
It continued: “The United States is still pressuring Israel and Lebanon to participate in the negotiations, while Israel continues its escalation at Ali al-Taher and refuses to lift the siege imposed on it, while the party still refuses to hand over the hill to the Lebanese Army. Accordingly, two possibilities remain: the first is that the situation continues as it is for a long period, or that a battle breaks out, particularly as Israel’s practices indicate a refusal to de-escalate in the south and a desire to keep the equation of the southern suburbs in exchange for not targeting the settlements in place, while operations in the south continue. Here, sources believe that Israel will intensify its strikes on Ali al-Taher without entering into a very large battle that could lead to an expansion of the fighting across the south as a whole, particularly in light of the United States’ refusal to open a new battle, while awaiting the outcome of developments between Iran and the United States”.