Lebanon’s Parliament Does What Its Government Won’t; Israel’s Dodgy Deal Dead?

Right, so Israel has got itself a shiny new Lebanon deal.A ceasefire deal. A de-escalation deal. A Washington-backed framework, which means they don’t need to cease firing at all. Very serious people have apparently been very seriously working on this, which is always comforting, isn't it? Nothing says peace quite like a conference table full of people who won't be anywhere near the blast radius.But then of course this is what south Lebanon actually gets out of this isn’t it?Diplomatic breakthrough? Don't make me laugh. That is what a peace framework looks like when it hits the ground face-first.So before anyone starts wafting the word "calm" around like air freshener in a burning kitchen, let's be clear what this story actually is. Israel has a deal it wants to sell as security. Washington has a framework it wants to sell as diplomacy. Lebanon has smoke in the sky and explosions on the ground and too much of people’s everyday lives are in flames, a Parliament Speaker doing his best Ian McKellen impression and saying to this deal “you shall not pass!” And an annex full of terms and conditions and exceptions in the background.But the first thing that really matters after the explosions isn't another Israeli spokesman telling us how responsible they are and how moral their ceasefire busting army is. That particular circus horse has been doing that lap for years, it’s spent.What matters is what happens when this deal hits Lebanese politics, or more specifically when it comes to be debated, because it’s all well and good Joseph Aoun’s government signing southern Lebanon away in effect, Lebanon is a democracy, and that still has to get through their parliament.