Tel Aviv reaches out to Moscow/Pskov: Moscow is ready to play a role.
According to Russia Today, Yedioth Aharonot and other Israeli media outlets, citing officials involved in the negotiations, Tel Aviv has asked Moscow to act as a mediator in the ceasefire talks with Lebanon’s Hezbollah. It seems that, given Hezbollah’s successful operations in direct and indirect border clashes with the Israeli army, Tel Aviv has somehow accepted defeat and is trying to get itself out of danger.
Earlier, the Univision news website wrote that Israel’s withdrawal was made to protect itself from rocket attacks and explosive drones by the resistance forces, which have caused many casualties to Israeli forces.
Russia Today wrote that a source told Yedioth Aharonot that “the Russians will play a special role in implementing the agreement and preventing an escalation of tensions.”
In response to these reports, Orna Mizrahi, the former deputy national security adviser to the Israeli government, told Newsweek that while “Israel prefers the Americans,” she had concluded that “Russia’s good relations with Iran” could help stabilize any future agreement with Lebanon.
“Another point is that they (Russia) are a permanent member of the UN Security Council, and if we get to a point where a new resolution on a ceasefire is available in the Security Council, we would like the Russians to endorse it,” she said.
Israeli media recently claimed that negotiations for a ceasefire agreement in Lebanon had reached “advanced stages.” Amos Hochstein, US President Joe Biden’s envoy who is supposedly playing a mediating role between Israel and Lebanon, apparently reached initial agreements during his recent visit to Beirut.
Israeli officials told Yedioth Aharonot that the agreement, if signed, would begin with a 60-day ceasefire, during which preparations would be made for a new mechanism for monitoring the border areas. However, the Israeli regime yesterday once again launched a new wave of brutal attacks against the Lebanese people, launching a massive bombardment of the country’s infrastructure, and the southern suburbs of Beirut were repeatedly targeted by Israeli warplanes.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, in response to a question about the Israeli media report on Russian interference in the ceasefire process, said without confirming or denying that Moscow “maintains its contacts with all parties to the war, and of course, if our help is needed, Russia is ready to play its role.”