Israel moves forward on ceasefire deal with Hezbollah as Cabinet vote looms

Israel is “moving forward” on a ceasefire agreement with Hezbollah militants in Lebanon, an Israeli official said on Monday.

The Israeli prime minister’s office told Fox News on Monday that they had no information about the ceasefire talks at this time. Israeli media also reported that the Israeli Security Cabinet will meet on Tuesday to discuss the issue.

“We are not done yet, but we are moving forward,” Israel’s Ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon told reporters outside the UN Security Council.

A senior U.S. official told Axios on Monday that Israel and Lebanon have reached an agreement to end the war, but neither side has officially announced the deal has been finalized.

Israel’s Security Cabinet is expected to vote on the deal on Tuesday, a US official told Axios.

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Meanwhile, the Pentagon’s top Middle East policy officer, Dan Shapiro, traveled to Israel and met with Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz in Tel Aviv on Monday, according to Axios and The Times of Israel.

Israeli forces have killed almost all of Hezbollah’s top leaders, but the terrorist group continues to fire missiles at Israel. Tens of thousands of Israelis who have been displaced from the border in recent months are pressuring their government to return home.

“Israel went to war in the north with the aim of returning its citizens, while Hezbollah’s aim was to force Israel to stop fighting in Gaza,” Amit Segal, senior political analyst at Israel Ch. 12, he told Fox News Digital. “If Israel succeeds and Hezbollah fails, then Israel has won the war. I expect that Netanyahu will present the deal to his voters as a temporary stopgap to rearm, regroup, and wait out the Trump administration.”

A man stands in front of a destroyed building after Sunday’s Israeli strike in Dahiyeh, Lebanon, Monday, Nov. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

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After a recent visit to the region by a US mediator, Israel struck Beirut in the middle over the weekend, and Hezbollah responded with the most violence in weeks as each applied pressure to reach an agreement.

A recent meeting between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US Ambassador Amos Hochstein was reportedly complicated by news that The International Criminal Court (ICC) has decided to issue arrest warrants for Netanyahu and the former defense minister, Yoav Gallant. Lebanon wanted France to mediate the agreement, but negotiations turned sour when the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that it would go along with the ICC decision.

President Biden spoke with French President Emmanuel Macron, warning him against trying to mediate a deal while at the same time promising to arrest the head of state involved, a US official told Axios.

Israel and Hezbollah have fired at each other almost every day since the day Hamas terrorists attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, starting the war in Gaza.

Israel launched a bombing campaign in Lebanon two months ago, then a ground attack. More than 3,500 people have been killed in Lebanon, according to the Associated Press.

The proposed ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah calls for a two-month ceasefire during which Israeli forces would withdraw from Lebanon and Hezbollah would end its armed presence along the southern border south of the Litani River.

Israeli soldiers inspect the site after a rocket fired from Lebanon hit a compound in Rinatya, on the outskirts of Tel Aviv, Israel, Sunday, Nov. 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

The withdrawal will be accompanied by an influx of thousands of Lebanese troops, who have been largely sidelined in the war, to guard the border and the existing UN peacekeeping force.

An international committee will be established to monitor the implementation of the cease-fire agreement and the UN Security Council resolution, which was passed in 2006 to end the month-long war between Israel and Hezbollah but has never been fully implemented. Hezbollah did not end its presence in southern Lebanon, while Lebanon said that Israel is constantly violating its airspace and occupying small pieces of its territory.

It is not clear whether the new agreement will be more successful than the 2006 one.

Michael Herzog, Israel’s ambassador to Washington, told Israel Army Radio on Monday that the agreement aims to improve the monitoring and implementation of the previous resolution. Although he said there were still some points to be finalized, an agreement was close and could be reached “within days”.

A U.S. official told the AP that talks were continuing Sunday, but the parties still need to iron out some issues to close a deal.

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The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss confidential discussions, declined to comment on the outstanding issues.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.