Israel reportedly agrees to reduce strikes on Hezbollah, demands Lebanon buffer zone in talks with US

Israel reportedly agreed to a request to reduce its strikes on Hezbollah in Lebanon, which was transmitted by U.S. envoy Tom Barrack during meetings with Israeli representatives in Paris last week.

Barrack arrived in Israel on Sunday to continue ongoing discussions over Lebanon and Syria with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and several other senior officials, Axios reported.

The meeting was reportedly also attended by U.S. deputy special envoy Morgan Ortagus and U.S. Ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee.

Barrack also met with Israel’s Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer and Defense Minister Israel Katz.

The U.S. delegation is reportedly set to continue to Lebanon on Monday, with senior Republican Senator Lindsey Graham joining them in Beirut, according to The Jerusalem Post.

Their trip comes on the heels of a meeting between Barrack, Dermer and Syria’s Foreign Minister, Asaad al-Shaibani, in Paris last week.

Barrack is the U.S. ambassador to Turkey but also serves as special envoy for Syria and Lebanon.

The Trump administration seeks security arrangements between the two countries (Syria and Lebanon) and Israel, which could bolster the overall U.S. security architecture in the region and integrate the two countries, which had been under the sway of the Iranian regime until last year, into the U.S. alliance system.

While talks with Syria reportedly progressed, negotiations between Israel and Lebanon are advancing slower.

According to the Lebanese newspaper Al-Jadeed, Israel effectively rejected Barrack’s proposal, although agreeing to parts of it.

Israel reportedly agreed to tone down its strikes against Hezbollah, which is meant to grant the Lebanese government more credibility as it seeks to disarm the terror group.

Dermer reportedly also agreed to a roadmap to withdraw IDF troops from some of the points the military still holds on Lebanese territory.

However, Israel also demanded that several border villages, most of which were devastated by the fighting against Hezbollah last year, remain a buffer zone that would not be resettled by civilians.

Most of the border region is populated by Shia Muslims, which is Hezbollah’s support base. Many of the villages had been turned into strongholds by the terror group and were used to fire into the Israeli towns that lie on the hills below them.

One option that has been floated both by the U.S. and Israel, according to media reports, could see the creation of an industrial area in this region.

According to Axios, the Trump administration also envisioned a "Trump economic zone," and apparently wanted to allow some civilians to return to permanently settle the area.

The report added that Saudi Arabia and Qatar have already agreed to invest in the reconstruction of the border area after the IDF completes its withdrawal.

Both versions of an economic zone – whether with civilians living there or not – are intended to provide an economic incentive for the population as well as a buffer zone that could prevent Hezbollah from returning to the area.

Under the terms of the ceasefire that ended last year’s fighting, Hezbollah was supposed to vacate the entirety of southern Lebanon up to the Litani River. Its constant violations of that agreement are the main targets of Israel’s airstrikes in the region.

On Sunday, Lebanon’s President Joseph Aoun said he was still awaiting “the final Israeli response” to the Lebanese proposal presented by Barrack.

The president also noted that he hadn’t been officially informed of the idea of a buffer zone in southern Lebanon during a meeting with visiting U.S. Rep. Darin LaHood.