Israeli reports reveal details about possible border deal with Lebanon

Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen has publicly declared that he has carried out contacts with Paris and European capitals regarding the clashes-hit border with Lebanon and Israeli media outlets have published some details about these talks.

A report by Israel’s Channel 12 said that there are behind-the-scenes negotiations between several countries with the aim of pushing back Hezbollah’s forces from the border with Israel.

The U.S., France, Saudi Arabia and the UAE are taking part in these talks and the objective is to guarantee the security of the Israeli settlements that lie on and near the border with Lebanon, the report said.

They are discussing pushing back Hezbollah’s forces to the area north of the Litani River, sending an international force to the Shebaa Farms and northern Ghajar areas and electing a new Lebanese president, the report added.

“This format was previously proposed by the representatives of the UAE, but it did not make progress, and the talks do not mean that Israel agrees to this solution,” the report said.

Israel’s Yedioth Ahraonot meanwhile said that chances have surged for an agreement over the situation on the Israel-Lebanon border through a U.S.-French mediation.

“The Lebanese government will be bribed with international funds and Hezbollah will agree to what ministers in Israel call a ‘light Resolution 1701’, or a reduced version of the (2006) U.N. Security Council resolution that ended the Second Lebanon War,” the newspaper said.

“Hezbollah apparently agrees to withdrawing the Radwan Force to behind the Litani River and not to rebuild the monitoring and surveillance towers that have been destroyed by the Israeli army on the border,” Yedioth Ahraonot claimed.

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant is meanwhile demanding “the resumption of the Air Force’s overflights in Lebanon’s airspace,” the daily added.