U.S. Justice Department Releases Israel-Lebanon Trilateral Framework To End Decades Of Conflict

The United States’ Department of Justice released the full text of a trilateral framework agreed with Israel and Lebanon that aims to formally end decades of conflict, establish a path toward diplomatic relations, and lay the groundwork for a comprehensive peace agreement between the two countries.

“As US President Donald Trump faced backlash, especially from pro-Israel politicians and advocates, for signing the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Iran, his deputy, JD Vance, went on a media blitz defending the agreement to end the months-long war”

Al Jazeera

The framework says Israel and Lebanon “declare their intent to conclusively end the conflict” and to “formally conclude any state of war between them,” with the mediation and support of the United States.

Al Jazeera

It also commits the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) to restore effective sovereign authority over all Lebanese territory, pending the verified disarmament of non-state armed groups and dismantlement of associated infrastructure, enabling the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) to progressively redeploy out of Lebanese territory.

The components of the process are to be detailed in a Security Annex developed with “the full support of the United States,” and the framework describes two initial pilot zones agreed to by the IDF and the LAF.

It further states that the Government of Israel declares that its military actions in Lebanon are “solely a consequence of the attacks, threat posed by, and hostile intent of non-state armed groups, particularly Hezbollah.”

In a separate US political dispute tied to the region, Al Jazeera framed a question of whether Team Trump is divided on Iran and Lebanon as Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio offered diverging comments.

Vance warned Israel that “You can’t just kill your way out of solving every single national security problem that you have,” and Al Jazeera said he was referring to Israeli tactics of using military force to solve its issues.

Haaretz

The same Al Jazeera report said Vance suggested that Israeli bombings of civilian infrastructure in Beirut were undermining US-led peace efforts, while it said Rubio defended Israel’s military campaign in Lebanon by repeatedly describing its actions as a justified response to Hezbollah attacks.

Al Jazeera also reported that Rubio declared in Bahrain on June 25 that “International waterways [Strait of Hormuz] do not belong to any nation-state,” and it said the United States and Iran were engaged in three days of tit-for-tat strikes after the MoU signed on June 17.

The report added that the White House “vigorously denied any divergence between the two officials,” even as it said their statements to the media during high-profile trips abroad slightly diverged.

As the framework’s implementation plan centered on Lebanese sovereignty and phased redeployments, yalibnan reported that Jassem Mohamed Albudaiwi, Secretary-General of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), welcomed the contents of the framework agreement and affirmed GCC support for Lebanon’s sovereignty and Israel’s withdrawal.

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Albudaiwi said the framework would place “the decision on war and peace solely in the hands of legitimate state institutions,” and yalibnan said he commended the role of the United States in the process of the framework agreement and negotiations it sponsors.

But yalibnan reported that Hezbollah and its ally Speaker Nabih Berri criticized the deal, with Berri describing it as “dictates” in an interview with the pro-Hezbollah daily Al-Akhbar.

The same report said Berri told Al-Akhbar that “The agreement 'won’t be implemented',” and it added that Waddah Sadek, a prominent Lebanese MP, blasted Berri and Hezbollah over their criticism of the deal.

yalibnan also said many Lebanese leaders accused Berri of inciting civil war, while it described Berri as maintaining a close political and strategic alliance with Iran.