United States, Israel and Lebanon signed a framework agreement toward future peace on Friday, culminating four marathon days of talks in Washington.
On the same day, an Israeli air raid reportedly killed two people in the town of Mayfadoun, and Israel also conducted air strikes in the town of Nabatieh al-Fawqa.
A peace deal signed in the morning. Air strikes in the afternoon. That is the Lebanon situation in a single sentence.
At the signing ceremony, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio described the deal as “the beginning of the beginning.” “There is a lot of work ahead. Today is the first step,” he said. Netanyahu added: “This is also a major blow to Iran. Iran is trying to force us into a withdrawal from southern Lebanon by force. In effect, Israel, Lebanon, and the United States are telling them: this is none of your business.”
The Israeli ambassador in Washington was more direct. According to NBC News’ coverage: “In this performance-based trilateral framework agreement, Iran is out. Hezbollah is out. And the road to peace between Israel and Lebanon is in.”
Lebanon sees it differently. Lebanese President Joseph Aoun thanked the Trump administration and said the agreement would allow the people of Lebanon to “return to their fully liberated land under sovereignty of a Lebanese state that has no partner in its sovereignty over its land and its people.”
What the United States, Israel and Lebanon Agreement Actually Does
The Jerusalem Post’s full breakdown confirms the agreement outlines a structured process for disarming Hezbollah, dismantling terrorist infrastructure, and enabling the IDF to withdraw from Lebanon once the threat posed by Hezbollah is removed. A US-facilitated trilateral Military Coordination Group for Lebanon was also established. Israel will withdraw from two areas in southern Lebanon — one north of the Litani River, one south of it — transferring the sites to the Lebanese military.
But the agreement does not force Israel to withdraw from the large area of southern Lebanon it continues to occupy. Netanyahu has framed the war on Lebanon as being about protecting northern Israel and insists that Israeli forces will not withdraw “as long as Hezbollah is not disarmed and as long as there is a threat to the State of Israel.”
The Hezbollah Problem
CNBC’s Rubio coverage noted the fundamental contradiction: Hezbollah was not part of the talks, which resulted in several ceasefire agreements that were never implemented on the ground. Hezbollah is unlikely to agree to any plan that includes its disarmament throughout the country. The group has maintained that it is only required by previous agreements and UN resolutions to disarm south of the Litani River.
A framework that requires Hezbollah’s disarmament but excludes Hezbollah from the negotiation is a framework that relies on force. Netanyahu has been explicit that force is exactly what he intends. The country has been at war with the pro-Iranian Lebanese group Hezbollah since October 2023, with varying levels of intensity, killing more than 4,000 people in Lebanon since March.
For Pakistan, the Lebanon front is directly connected to the Islamabad MOU. Iran has repeatedly said Israeli operations in Lebanon violate the peace deal — and this morning’s US strikes on Iran and Bahrain drone attacks show that Tehran’s patience is not infinite.
The deal signed Friday in Washington is described as a step toward peace. But the strikes that preceded it, accompanied it, and followed it tell a different story.
