Despite the continuous strikes by Israel within Lebanon, the ongoing ground operation in the southern part of the country for the past five days, and the blows that have “knocked down” Hezbollah, the US seems poised to create the conditions for long-term peace in the broader region.
Senior officials from the White House revealed yesterday that President Joe Biden has not only presented a military framework for cooperation to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu regarding Israel’s response to the ballistic missile strike from Tehran last Tuesday. The American president appears to have a very specific set of actions that the US intends to promote immediately to provide a long-term solution and guarantees to Tel Aviv that Hezbollah will not pose a threat again, at least not in the near future.
According to this specific plan, Joe Biden seems to have a dossier that he has already shared with political and diplomatic circles in Lebanon, which includes a proposal for the country to proceed—if it requests assistance from Washington—with the immediate election of a president. Biden’s plan states that now, with Hezbollah weaker than ever, it is an opportunity for Lebanon to advance the political agenda that the Shiite organization has been blocking for the past two years, keeping the local government hostage to its whims and plans.
The American plan also includes a specific provision whereby, following the election of a president in Lebanon, the country must go to the polls to elect a new government, one in which Hezbollah will have minimal presence.
It is clear that with this specific plan, the US is attempting both to “kill” Hezbollah militarily and politically and to offer Lebanon a different perspective. Washington, having a comprehensive understanding of the situation in the country, seems to have also communicated with the Élysée Palace, from where it appears to have received the green light to promote this initiative.
The American plan for radical change in the situation in Lebanon clearly includes a package of economic aid, which Biden cannot commit to, especially with the presidential elections on the horizon. Should Kamala Harris be elected on November 5, it is not unlikely that one of the first bills attempted to be passed in Congress will include a rescue package for Lebanon’s economy.
Joe Biden, who appears to be relying significantly on this specific plan as part of America’s negotiating power today, has communicated this American “intent” to Tehran, which clearly does not wish to see Hezbollah’s degradation and removal from Lebanon’s political scene. The Americans seem to have integrated this proposal into a draft for a ceasefire proposal in Lebanon, which was informally received by the Iranian foreign minister.
Tehran will certainly not agree, at least not openly, to this proposal, but the new president of the country will need to demonstrate his “moderation” to America if he does not want to jeopardize his nuclear program.
