Biden’s cease-fire in Lebanon is just another of his empty ‘successes’

With the IDF striking Thursday against terrorists moving to launch another attack, the wheels are already coming off the supposed Israel-Hezbollah cease-fire.

And predictably so, since (as with every Team Biden “success”) it’s far, far less than it seems — and significantly a gift to Iran.

First, Hezbollah is not in fact part of the accord: It’s formally an agreement between the governments of Israel and Lebanon — the latter of which is a joke, an impotent bystander.

What the deal envisions — both the IDF and Hezbollah pulling out of Lebanon south of the Litani River — was supposed to happen back in 2006 at the end of that Israel-Hez war; there was even a UN resolution (1701) saying so and declaring a “permanent ceasefire.”

Israel pulled out; Hezbollah never did. Indeed, it dug in deeper — literally so, with a network of terror tunnels far larger than Hamas’ excavations in Gaza.

And Hez has launched sporadic attacks on Israel out of south Lebabon ever since, with the rocket and missile fire alone spiking up to the thousands after Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, terror invasion.

The United Nations left enforcement of 1701 to the Lebanese government, which then as now couldn’t sneeze without Hezbollah’s permission, and to UNIFIL — the UN peacekeeping force that’s done absolutely nothing to keep the peace in Lebanon for decades.

And those same toothless marvels are now in charge of enforcing the Biden “achievement,” though now the United States and maybe France promise to monitor compliance.

Not that either Washington or Paris will send in troops to enforce compliance.  

OK, Hezbollah has a veto over anything Beirut does, so Lebanon’s agreement indicates some Hez buy-in.

After all, the terror group’s masters in Iran put out the word that Hezbollah should agree to a cease-fire well before Biden and his envoys set out to produce one.

The IDF has devastated the terror group and its assets these last two months, among other things, taking out so many Hezbollah leaders that the fighters on the ground are likely on their own, with limited if any communications with the higher-ups in Beirut and Tehran.

Iran wanted a cease-fire to end the destruction of its proxies.

Israel, meanwhile, might have wanted to settle for the gains it’s made so far (and certainly has little appetite for fully conquering Lebanon to “finish off” the terror group) and focus on getting the remaining hostages back from Hamas.

But reports out of Israel are that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is claiming that Biden’s diplomats left him no choice: If he didn’t agree to this deal, Washington would cut off weapons shipments to Jerusalem even though it’s at war on seven fronts with Iran and its proxies.

That’s entirely believable, since the prez would like to leave office on a high note — and his minions immediately turned to pushing Israel for another cease-fire with Hamas.

Biden wants to be able to claim he left a peace behind, so Democrats can blame any return to hostilities on Team Trump.

In other words, it’s all about building a “narrative,” not about addressing any of the grim realities on the ground, especially not Iran’s role as the master and funder of Hezbollah and Hamas, as well as of the Houthis in Yemen and other “death to Israel” forces in Syria and Iraq.

Which makes it a textbook “success” not just for Biden, but for the entire modern Democratic Party: No wonder they keep losing.