Rania Chakhtoura, “Akhbar al-Yawm” agency

What is the price of Hezbollah's non-involvement in the war?

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant announced a few days ago that Tel Aviv will not stop firing in the north against Hezbollah even if the shooting stops in the Gaza Strip.

This position came in conjunction with American and Western mediations and ideas to reach a new formula for managing the situation in the South, while Hezbollah, which ignited the Southern Front in support of the people of Gaza and Hamas, insists on refusing to discuss security arrangements or negotiate without a final ceasefire in Gaza.

In this context, a veteran political source, via the "Akhbar al-Yawm" agency, says that “it is true that there is a link between Lebanon and the Gaza war, supported by Hezbollah, but  such a link does not benefit Lebanon because it is also unrealistic, asking: What if the situation remains the same in Gaza for years, especially since the goal is a ceasefire and a two-state solution, and therefore is it permissible for Lebanon to remain in a state of waiting?"

He adds that "any wait should be practical and not just objective, in the sense of seeking a solution for Lebanon independently of the Gaza war, i.e. in parallel with repeated ceasefires or truces".

He pointed out that "at the international level or the countries concerned with Lebanese affairs, the solution begins with the full implementation of Resolution 1701, with strengthening the deployment of the army south and then reaching the presidency, filling the vacuum".

As for the main question here: what is the price of Hezbollah's non-involvement in the war or its involvement in the Lebanese solution independently of the Gazan solution?

In this context, the source considered that "the five-nation group, through the five ambassadors in Beirut, is not talking about any link, and this is also what the American envoy Amos Hochstein conveyed to officials in Lebanon, as well as British Foreign Minister David Cameron, in addition to the Vatican, which stresses the Lebanese solution".

The source said: "this means that the Lebanese solution may come independently of the situation in Gaza, where the path is long and its conditions are more difficult, and the best evidence is what is happening in the truce negotiations".

The source concluded: "the solution must be in isolation from Gaza, or at least in parallel with some progress in Gaza".