On September 24 local time, the Israeli army conducts airstrikes on the border area between Lebanon and Israel.
It is reported that Israel recently gave a document with its conditions for a diplomatic solution to end the war in Lebanon to the US. The Israeli demands include that the IDF be allowed to engage in "active enforcement" to make sure Hezbollah doesn't rearm and rebuild its military infrastructure in the areas of southern Lebanon that are close to the border and that its air force have freedom of operation in Lebanese air space. According to military observer Liang Yongchun, Israel is attempting to safeguard its security by undermining the sovereignty of other countries.
"The demand of Israel that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) be allowed to engage in 'active enforcement' in the areas of southern Lebanon is a disguised form of occupation. Besides, it demands that its air force have freedom of operation in Lebanese air space. These conditions clearly constitute a serious violation of Lebanon's sovereignty and territorial integrity and are contrary to the spirit of UN Security Council resolution 1701," said Liang Yongchun.
Liang Yongchun analyzed that Israel's proposal for a ceasefire at this time has multiple political and military considerations. Politically, it hopes to whitewash itself. Militarily, it expects to shorten the front line, end the war in the relevant regions, and free up the Israeli Air Force to carry out military strikes against Iran.
Israel believes that Iran is the root cause of this round of armed conflict in the Middle East and that it will never enjoy peace if it does not strike Iran. The US hopes that Israel can strike Iran before its presidential election, so the newly elected US president will bear no burden of it.
The Lebanese government has remained silent since Israel launched its attack on Hezbollah. Firstly, it does not have enough strength to turn the tables. Secondly, it is happy to see Hezbollah being attacked and weakened by Israel. "However, the ceasefire conditions proposed by Israel now would cause Lebanon to lose a large area of territory and all airspace sovereignty. The Lebanese government willnot accept this. Once it does, the Lebanese government will be driven out of power by the people," said Liang Yongchun.
While Israel has submitted a ceasefire proposal, it is continuing its attacks. There is no sign of a ceasefire between Lebanon and Israel at the moment. At present, Hezbollah still controls a large area of Lebanon. It has declared that the confrontation with Israel has entered a new escalation stage and that it will use a protracted war to consume Israel.
"In order to prepare for an attack on Iran, Israel will appropriately reduce the intensity of its operations against Hezbollah, especially the intensity of its airstrikes. But for Israel, Hezbollah will remain as a military threat, and a true ceasefire is still a long way off."
Editor's note: Originally published on military.cnr.cn, this article is translated from Chinese into English and edited by the China Military Online. The information and opinions in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of eng.chinamil.com.cn.
