Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty said Friday that Israel must show “full commitment” to the ceasefire in Lebanon, pull back from all areas it has seized, and fully implement UN Security Council Resolution 1701, according to a statement from Cairo. The remarks came during a phone call with Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri.
Abdelatty stressed the need to transform the current ceasefire into a “comprehensive and permanent truce,” which would allow displaced residents to return home and help ease the humanitarian situation in Lebanon.
Plan focuses on “containing” Hezbollah
Alongside the official statements, Lebanon’s Al-Joumhouria newspaper reported on a wider diplomatic effort taking shape behind the scenes. Citing a political source, the report said the US, Saudi Arabia and Egypt are working to formulate a regional non-aggression pact.
The proposed framework is based on an earlier Egyptian initiative that acknowledges the difficulty of disarming Hezbollah at this stage. Instead, it promotes a strategy of “containment.”
According to the report, the emerging outline includes several key elements:
1. Israel would carry out a full withdrawal to the international border, while the Lebanese Army deploys in the south and Hezbollah forces pull back north of the Litani River.
2. Mechanisms would be established to contain the group’s heavy weapons, drones and missile systems, alongside indirect messaging with Tehran.
3. In return for calm and the repositioning of forces, steps would be taken on prisoner releases, the return of displaced civilians, and a large-scale reconstruction plan backed by international and Arab guarantees, led by the US.
The source added that contacts between Washington, Riyadh and Cairo are intensifying, with some level of coordination with Iran, in an effort to formally end the state of war in Lebanon and provide both sides with guarantees to prevent further escalation.
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