BY Ya Libnan Editorial Board, Op-ED
The ceasefire agreement between Lebanon and Israel is collapsing. Daily violations, rising tension, and Israel’s continued occupation of strategic Lebanese hills are pushing both countries back toward the edge of war. If this trajectory holds, the region will once again face a conflict that could have been avoided.
At this stage, international mediation is no longer optional — it is urgently required. And only one country has the leverage to make a real difference: the United States.
Washington’s One-Sided Pressure Has Failed
For years, Washington has demanded that Lebanon resolve the question of Hezbollah’s weapons. Yet the same Washington refuses to pressure Israel to withdraw from Lebanese land or stop its military escalation.
This approach is doomed to fail.
Former senior Lebanese Army commanders have warned that if the occupation continues and Lebanon remains unable to address the resistance weapons, “the war could return.” Their warning is not political — it is strategic reality.
You cannot disarm Hezbollah while:
- Lebanese territory remains under Israeli control
- Israel escalates whenever it chooses
- And Lebanon receives symbolic military aid that changes nothing on the ground
Hezbollah is stronger than the Lebanese Army. Everyone knows this — including Washington.
Billions for Israel, Peanuts for Lebanon
Israel receives tens of billions of dollars in advanced U.S. military assistance. Lebanon, by comparison, receives handouts — small, sporadic, and incapable of shifting the balance of power.
Let’s be honest:
Peanuts are for monkeys, not for a national army asked to secure a country.
If Washington truly wants Hezbollah disarmed, then it must give the Lebanese Army the tools needed to assume security responsibility. Anything short of that is empty rhetoric.
The Only Realistic Path Forward
Lebanon cannot resolve the weapons issue as long as a part of its territory remains occupied. And even leaders who want to see all arms under the authority of the state — including former President Michel Aoun — cannot achieve this without international guarantees and real military support.
A workable U.S. strategy requires three steps:
- Pressure Israel to withdraw from the five occupied Lebanese hills.
- Enforce the 1949 Armistice Agreement as the foundation for lasting stability.
- Provide Lebanon with meaningful military aid, not symbolic gestures.
Only with these conditions met will Lebanon be in a position to negotiate the disarmament of Hezbollah and restore full sovereignty.
Washington Can Prevent the Next War — If It Chooses To
The United States has unmatched influence over Israel. If it decides to intervene seriously — with fairness, pressure, and balanced support — the cycle of conflict can finally be broken.
If it chooses to continue the old policy of one-sided demands and empty declarations, then the region will drift toward another destructive, avoidable war.
tragic hills
Peace is possible.
Fairness is necessary.
What remains is for Washington’s leadership to recognize that preventing war is far less costly than dealing with its consequences.