At a signing ceremony on June 26, 2026 in Washington DC, the Israeli and Lebanese Governments, through their respective ambassadors to the US, affirmed a ceasefire between the two West Asian countries. However, in his comments afterwards, US Secretary of State Marco Antonio Rubio made clear that the agreement clears the way for Israel to launch a civil war in Lebanon.

Although Rubio claimed that the agreement would consolidate the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) ending the war of the US and Israel against Iran, the terms in fact allow Israel the right to intervene in Lebanon and do not force withdrawal of the Israeli Army from the areas it now occupies.

This framework agreement follows the formulation adopted following talks on June 2-3, 2026 in Washington DC between Israeli and Lebanese representatives, with the US present. Rubio’s summary at the time of the statement identified three points:

1. There was an agreement reached for a ceasefire;
2. It is contingent on the “cessation of Hezbollah fire and evacuation of all Hezbollah operatives from the South Litani sector”;
3. The US will create ‘pilot zones’ in which the Lebanese Armed Forces “take exclusive control, to exclude non-state actors”.

By blaming Hezbollah alone for violations of the ceasefire, the US Secretary of State was in fact blaming Iran, as both he and President Donald John Trump have called Hezbollah an “Iran proxy”. Moreover, he lied by identifying Hezbollah as a “non-state actor”. Since 1992, Hezbollah has had members elected to the Lebanese Parliament, representing primarily Shia Muslims, who make up more than 30% of the population.

It is important to restate that Hezbollah came into existence several decades ago in part as a militia defending the Shia population from repeated Israeli invasions. In 1982, it is estimated that between 1,200 and 3,500 Palestinians and Shia Muslims were killed by Phalange Christian militia in the Sabra neighbourhood of Beirut and Shatila refugee camp. An Israeli Commission of Inquiry found Ariel Sharon, the then Defence Minister of Israel, complicit in the attack, as the militia was backed by IDF soldiers under Sharon’s supervision, which prevented the occupants from fleeing.

The agreement reached on June 26, 2026 has been widely denounced as a violation of the MoU between Iran and the US, as a ceasefire in Lebanon and the complete evacuation of IDF troops from that country are included in that agreement’s 14 points. Rubio, however, did not specify the removal of Israeli forces from Lebanon in his presentation that day.

Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin ‘Bibi’ Netanyahu has repeatedly stated that the Jewish Nation would not withdraw its Armed Forces from Lebanon.

This article was first published in Executive Intelligence Review (EIR) Strategic Alert weekly newsletter (Volume 40, No. 27) on July 2, 2026.

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Koushik Das (born on May 16, 1976 in Kolkata) is a career journalist. Based in the Indian capital of New Delhi, Koushik writes mainly about foreign policies and current geopolitical issues, and rarely about other topics. His own political ideas are highly influenced by Antonio Gramsci, Louis Althusser, Michel Foucault, Michael Oakeshott and others. English philosopher and political theorist Oakeshott (Dec 11, 1901-Dec 19, 1990) says that “in political activity, men sail a boundless and bottomless sea. There is neither harbour for shelter nor floor for anchorage, neither starting-place, nor appointed destination. But we have to keep afloat”. (Rationalism in Politics, 1962) As a student of Political Science, Koushik loves to share his views on issues, which have great impacts on his thought process (and also on India, South Asia and of course on the global community), with his readers through his website – Boundless Ocean of Politics. By doing so, he tries to keep himself afloat. You will find some of his articles in https://inserbia.info/today/ (https://inserbia.info/today/author/kou_das13_i/), as he has been trying to assess the global geopolitics since 2003. You can also mail him at kousdas@gmail.com View all posts by Koushik Das