Biden approved Israel’s violations of Lebanon ceasefire: Report

Former US President Joe Biden allowed Israel to continue bombing Lebanon, even after a ceasefire was reached between the occupying regime and the Lebanese resistance movement Hezbollah, according to a report.

The report, by the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft published on Friday, revealed that during a Washington Institute for Near East Policy (WINEP) conference, a pro-Israel think tank in Washington, Michael Herzog, former Israeli ambassador to the US, disclosed that Israel had reached a “side understanding” with the Biden administration to continue to strike Lebanon despite Washington’s role as guarantor of the ceasefire.

Herzog stated that during the negotiations, he personally helped secure approval for Israel to retain “freedom of action” against what it called threats when others were “unwilling or incapable” of addressing them.

Hezbollah and Israel reached a ceasefire agreement on November 27, 2024, following the regime’s devastating assault on Lebanon that began on October 1, 2024, and failed to achieve its stated objectives.

During the onslaught, Israel killed more than 4,000 Lebanese citizens and injured thousands more, particularly through coordinated cellphone and pager explosion terror attacks on September 17 and 18, 2024.

Since the agreement, however, Israel has continued to bomb targets across southern Lebanon with Washington’s silent approval.

Israeli airstrikes have killed over 300 Lebanese civilians since the ceasefire began.

In one September attack, an Israeli strike wiped out four members of a single family, including a 10-year-old girl and 19-month-old twins. The mother and another daughter were critically wounded.

Leaks regarding a “side letter” to the ceasefire have circulated in Israeli media over the past year.

Yet Herzog’s statements mark the first confirmation of the “understanding,” effectively granting Israel a US- carte blanche to bomb Lebanon at will.

Herzog did not clarify whether such “side understandings” remain in effect under President Donald Trump’s administration, which, like its predecessor, has largely ignored Israeli violations of the ceasefire.

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‘The revelation also raises questions about Israel’s ongoing genocidal assaults on Gaza following the US-brokered ceasefire with the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas in early October.

Despite the agreement, Israeli forces have continued to bombard the Gaza Strip daily.

On October 29, Israeli airstrikes massacred 104 Palestinians, including 46 children and 20 women, destroying homes, schools, and residential blocks throughout the north, center, and south of the besieged territory.

Herzog’s remarks further suggest that a similar “side understanding” could be attached to any future so-called security agreement with Syria, a country Israel has regularly targeted since the fall of former president Bashar al-Assad last December.

Former al-Qaeda commander and Daesh-linked Hayat Tahrir al-Sham leader Abu Mohammad al-Julani is expected to visit Washington for meetings with Trump next week, where a Hayat Tahrir al-Sham-Israel agreement is likely to be discussed, the Quincy Institute noted.

At the WINEP conference, Herzog added that Israel would “like to apply” a similar “side understanding” to any agreement with the organization, stressing, “It is important for Israelis to know that they can maintain freedom of action.”

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