The Biden administration, along with its NATO allies – France, Britain, Germany, and Italy, hopes to announce within a few weeks the new understandings that will put an end to the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah and restore calm to the northern border. Senior Israeli officials and a knowledgeable source close to this issue revealed this.
The main objective of the Biden administration since October 7 has been to prevent a full-scale war between Israel and Hezbollah and to prevent the Gaza crisis from spreading to other countries in the Middle East. Biden entrusted the Israeli-Lebanese portfolio to his close advisor, Amos Hochstein, who conducted negotiations between Israel and Lebanon for the maritime border agreement signed in October 2022.
The US plan is based on the model of “Operation Grapes of Wrath” that the United States and several Western countries declared to end an Israeli operation in Lebanon in 1996. The parties will not formally sign the new arrangements, but rather, the United States and four European countries will issue a statement specifying the commitments made by each side. Additionally, the United States, France, Britain, Germany, and Italy will announce an economic assistance package to Lebanon to incentivize Hezbollah to agree to the arrangements and present it as an achievement to the Lebanese public.