Hezbollah cannot be dissuaded or weakened: Israeli media

Israeli media said on Thursday that the Lebanese maritime border agreement strengthens Hezbollah's position inside Lebanon, stressing that Hezbollah has once again proven that it can achieve its political and strategic goals in Lebanon and the region thanks to its military strength, only to draw a conclusion that Hezbollah cannot be dissuaded or weakened.

"The Biden administration is putting pressure on Israel to ratify the draft maritime border agreement with Lebanon, despite the amendments that Lebanon has requested to be made to the agreement," said Yoni Ben-Menachem, an Israeli expert on Arab affairs, in a series of tweets via Twitter.

Ben-Menachem added that "Lebanon warns of a security escalation if Israel does not ratify the agreement," noting that "Hezbollah takes credit for the completion of the agreement and presents it as a victory."

He also stressed that "two elements forced Yair Lapid (Israeli PM) and Benny Gantz (Israeli security minister) to sign the maritime agreement with Lebanon," explaining that the first element is "President Biden who wants to secure gas for Europe because of the war in Ukraine and the confrontation with Putin," while the second element is "Hezbollah, which wants to improve its position in Lebanon as a defender of the county's rights and natural gas resources," pointing out that, "in Lebanon, they categorically reject the claim that the agreement on maritime borders is the beginning of a normalization process with Israel."

On Monday, Israeli media reported that "Lebanon is united over the maritime agreement, and "Israel" is divided." In the details, the Israeli channel KAN said that "a country suffering from conflict and is politically divided, such as Lebanon, appears more united than Israel with regard to everything related to the issue of the dispute on the maritime borders."

Earlier, Israeli occupation Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told reporters that Lapid is shamefully surrendering to the threats of the Secretary-General of Hezbollah, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah. According to Netanyahu, should the agreement with Lebanon be signed, Hezbollah would be "receiving Israel’s sovereign territory and a gas field worth billions of dollars" without any parliamentary debate and referendum.

A few days ago, Deputy Speaker of the Lebanese parliament Elias Bou Saab told Al Mayadeen that "Lebanon has not renounced any part of its rights and will not pay compensation to the Israeli enemy," commenting on the maritime border demarcation issue with occupied Palestine.

He added that, "Lebanon gained more than the other side ("Israel"), by their confession, regarding the draft agreement on the demarcation of the maritime borders," noting that, "Lebanon held an advanced position in the negotiations due to its unified position (political unity), the strength factor known to everyone, and the diplomacy that was backed by these two factors."

The Lebanese official confirmed that Lebanon will propose amendments to the draft received from the American mediator, noting that "the devil lies in the details."

A Lebanese source involved in the negotiations between Lebanon and the occupation entity earlier confirmed to Al Mayadeen that "Lebanon received in the written proposal from the Americans all its demands," indicating that "Lebanon has not and will not give 'Israel' any security zone that they demanded earlier".