Siniora Plan
Encyclopedia
The Siniora Plan called for a mutual release of Lebanese and Israeli prisoners and detainees, an immediate withdrawal of the Israeli ground troops behind the Blue Line
Blue Line (Lebanon)
The Blue Line is a border demarcation between Lebanon and Israel published by the United Nations on 7 June 2000 for the purposes of determining whether Israel had fully withdrawn from Lebanon...
, that the disputed Shebaa Farms
Shebaa farms
The Shebaa Farms are a small uninhabited territory claimed by Lebanon, but occupied by Israel which claims they are in Syria's Golan Heights. Syrian policy is to vaguely accept the Lebanese claim, while refusing any binding demarcation until Israeli forces withdraw from the area.The United Nations...
area would be placed under UN jurisdiction until the ownership issue had been settled, that Israel handed over all remaining maps showing their landmines in southern Lebanon, that the Lebanese army took full control over southern Lebanon, and that a strong multi-national force under the UN is given the necessary powers (including operating under Chapter 7
Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter
Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter sets out the UN Security Council's powers to maintain peace. It allows the Council to "determine the existence of any threat to the peace, breach of the peace, or act of aggression" and to take military and nonmilitary action to "restore international peace...
of the UN Charter, which allows the use of force) to guarantee stability and security.
On 4 August, the USA and France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
presented a draft UN Security Council resolution attempting to resolve the conflict. Contrary to the Siniora Plan, the draft resolution did not require Israel to withdraw from southern Lebanon until an international force was in place; it said that Israel needed only to cease all "offensive" military activities, while it demanded that Hezbollah cease all military activities; and it demanded that Hezbollah immediately released captured Israelis, while stating that the issue regarding captured Lebanese was to be resolved at a later stage. Lebanon's reaction to the draft was very negative.
On 7 August, at an emergency meeting of the Arab League
Arab League
The Arab League , officially called the League of Arab States , is a regional organisation of Arab states in North and Northeast Africa, and Southwest Asia . It was formed in Cairo on 22 March 1945 with six members: Egypt, Iraq, Transjordan , Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, and Syria. Yemen joined as a...
in Beirut, the Siniora Plan was further detailed, by specifying that 15,000 Lebanese Army troops would fill the void in southern Lebanon between an Israeli withdrawal and the arrival of the international force. This way, the Lebanese government hoped to dispel the claim that the Israeli forces had to remain in Lebanon until the international force had arrived, and thus make the Siniora Plan a more viable alternative to the draft UN resolution. The number of soldiers corresponded with what Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert
Ehud Olmert
Ehud Olmert is an Israeli politician and lawyer. He served as Prime Minister of Israel from 2006 to 2009, as a Cabinet Minister from 1988 to 1992 and from 2003 to 2006, and as Mayor of Jerusalem from 1993 to 2003....
earlier had said that the size of the international force would need to be .
The Siniora Plan received the backing of the EU and the Arab League
Arab League
The Arab League , officially called the League of Arab States , is a regional organisation of Arab states in North and Northeast Africa, and Southwest Asia . It was formed in Cairo on 22 March 1945 with six members: Egypt, Iraq, Transjordan , Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, and Syria. Yemen joined as a...
, including countries such as Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
and Jordan
Jordan
Jordan , officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan , Al-Mamlaka al-Urduniyya al-Hashemiyya) is a kingdom on the East Bank of the River Jordan. The country borders Saudi Arabia to the east and south-east, Iraq to the north-east, Syria to the north and the West Bank and Israel to the west, sharing...
. It was also supported by Hezbollah, while it was disliked by Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
. Initially, Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
didn't like the Siniora Plan, but when the 15,000 Lebanese troops were added, the Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert
Ehud Olmert
Ehud Olmert is an Israeli politician and lawyer. He served as Prime Minister of Israel from 2006 to 2009, as a Cabinet Minister from 1988 to 1992 and from 2003 to 2006, and as Mayor of Jerusalem from 1993 to 2003....
called it "an interesting step" .
On 8 August, a delegation from the Arab League visited the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
to urge for changes of the draft resolution in accordance with the Siniora Plan. The Arab view caused France to change its view on the draft proposal, and a growing rift between France and the US was reported, with France threatening to put forward a new draft resolution if the current one wasn't revised to reflect important elements of the Siniora Plan .
On 11 August, a much revised draft resolution was presented, incorporating many elements from the Siniora Plan. It was adopted unanimously by the UN Security Council as United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701
United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701
United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701 is a resolution that was intended to resolve the 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict.It was unanimously approved by the United Nations Security Council on 11 August 2006. The Lebanese cabinet, which includes two members of Hezbollah, unanimously approved the...
. On 12 August, both the Lebanese government and Hezbollah accepted the UN resolution, and on 13 August the Israeli government did the same.
Below is the official English wording of the Siniora Plan, from the Lebanese government's "Rebuild Lebanon" website :
- An undertaking to release the Lebanese and Israeli prisoners and detainees through the ICRCInternational Committee of the Red CrossThe International Committee of the Red Cross is a private humanitarian institution based in Geneva, Switzerland. States parties to the four Geneva Conventions of 1949 and their Additional Protocols of 1977 and 2005, have given the ICRC a mandate to protect the victims of international and...
. - The withdrawal of the Israeli army behind the Blue Line, and the return of the displaced to their villages.
- A commitment from the Security Council to place the Shebaa Farms area and the Kfarshouba Hills under UN jurisdiction until border delineation and Lebanese sovereignty over them are fully settled. While in UN custody, the area will be accessible to Lebanese property owners there. Further, Israel surrenders all remaining landmine maps in South Lebanon to the UN.
- The Lebanese government extends its authority over its territory through its own legitimate armed forces, such that there will be no weapons or authority other than that of the Lebanese state as stipulated in the TaefTaif AgreementThe Taif Agreement was an agreement reached to provide "the basis for the ending of the civil war and the return to political normalcy in Lebanon." Negotiated in Taif, Saudi Arabia, it was designed to end the decades-long Lebanese civil war, politically accommodate the demographic...
national reconciliation document. - The UN international force, operating in South Lebanon, is supplemented and enhanced in numbers, equipment, mandate and scope of operation, as needed, in order to undertake urgent humanitarian and relief work and guarantee stability and security in the south so that those who fled their homes can return.
- The UN, in cooperation with the relevant parties, undertakes the necessary measures to once again put into effect the Armistice Agreement1949 Armistice AgreementsThe 1949 Armistice Agreements are a set of agreements signed during 1949 between Israel and neighboring Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan, and Syria. The agreements ended the official hostilities of the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, and established armistice lines between Israeli forces and the forces in...
signed by Lebanon and Israel in 1949, and to insure adherence to the provisions of that agreement, as well as to explore possible amendments to or development of said provisions, as necessary. - The international community commits to support Lebanon on all levels, and to assist it in facing the tremendous burden resulting from the human, social and economic tragedy which has afflicted the country, especially in the areas of relief, reconstruction and rebuilding of the national economy.
External links
- Modest Proposal: A Plan for a Lasting Peace – ABC NewsABC NewsABC News is the news gathering and broadcasting division of American broadcast television network ABC, a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company...
commentary to the Siniora Plan on 1 August 2006 - One way out: the Siniora plan - Daily Star (Lebanon)Daily Star (Lebanon)The Daily Star is a pan-Middle East English language newspaper edited in Beirut. It was founded in 1952 by Kamel Mrowa, the publisher of the Arabic daily Al-Hayat to serve the growing number of expatriates brought by the oil industry...
commentary to the plan on 2 August 2006