Israel and Lebanon Reach Phased Disengagement as US-Israel Ties Show Strain

Israel, Lebanon and the United States signed a trilateral framework agreement on Friday in Washington setting out a gradual Israeli military withdrawal from southern Lebanon, according to Globes and Outlook India. The Israeli pullback would be conditioned on the disarmament of Hezbollah and would proceed only after the Lebanese army assumes full responsibility over agreed pilot zones, with negotiations on a fuller peace agreement to follow.

Hezbollah rejected the agreement. The group's leader, Naim Qassem, called it "humiliating, shameful and a surrender of sovereignty" and rejected linking Israel's withdrawal to the group's disarmament, according to Al Jazeera. The group's supporters protested in Beirut after the announcement, and Israeli forces carried out attacks in southern Lebanon.

The diplomacy unfolds against domestic shifts in the United States. The New York Times reported that recent election results in New York, together with criticism of Israel's conduct in Gaza and the war with Iran, have led some Israelis to fear that the country's long-standing support from Washington may be eroding.

Inside the regional debate, criticism of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has grown. IRNA cited an Israeli analyst as arguing that Netanyahu's policies have left Israel more internationally isolated than at any time in its history, a characterization attributed to the analyst rather than asserted here.