Attention switched suddenly to Lebanon towards the end of May as the South Lebanon Army collapsed and the Hizbollah guerrillas made massive advances into the Israeli occupied zone. Mr Barak's plans to withdraw the Israeli Army from Lebanon were abruptly brought forward and the hopes for an orderly withdrawal dashed. Within two days, the Israeli Army had left the country, the SLA was no more and South Lebanon was largely in the hands of the Hizbollah. Border skirmishes lasted for over a week, as the Hizbollah demanded the return of an area on the Syria border, the Sheeba Farms district, which Israel claimed was Syrian, but Hizbollah claimed belonged to Lebanon. They also demanded the return of Lebanese prisoners in Israel. However, the situation soon calmed as Syria accepted that Israel had withdrawn, the demand for the return of the Sheeba Farms district was dropped and the decision on whether to release the Hizbollah prisoners was put back by an Israeli court.
Mr Barak faced domestic problems as his Deputy Prime Minister, Yitzhak Mordechai, resigned as he faced three charges of sexual assault. The President, Ezer Weizman, also announced his intention to resign from office in July, following a decision by State prosecutors not to file criminal charges against him for accepting cash gifts from a French businessman before he came to power. There was good news on the external relations front, as the Palestinians said that they would re-enter negotiations.
June saw a huge change on the political landscape of the Middle East with the death of the Syria's President Assad and his replacement by his son, Bashar. Israel responded to the news of President Assad's death by saying that Israel would continue to work to achieve peace with the new Syrian leadership. Within hours of the burial, Mr Barak called on Bashar al-Assad to resume peace talks with Israel.
Israel and the Palestinians, together with the US President and Secretary of State, Madeleine Albright, began arranging a summit in Washington, which was to resolve, for once and for all, the major issues of dispute between the two regions. This came as the Palestinians announced that they would establish an independent Palestinian state, regardless of whether there is a final agreement with Israel, by 13 September. Mr Barak's decision to attend the Camp David summit without stating the final negotiating positions in consultation with his ministers led to the departure of the National Religious Party, the Shas Party and the Russian immigrant party, Israel B'Aliya from government. He faced a no-confidence motion in parliament before he left for Washington, but he survived, despite his government's minority position.
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