Israel’s Netanyahu shows support for ceasefire with Lebanon’s Hezbollah – National
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday he would recommend his Cabinet to accept a US-brokered ceasefire deal with Lebanon’s Hezbollah, as Israeli warplanes raided Lebanon, killing at least 23 people.
The Israeli army also issued evacuation warnings – a sign intended to punish Hezbollah until the last moments before any ceasefire is lifted. For the first time in the conflict, Israeli forces reached parts of the Litani River, the heartland of the fledgling settlement.
In a televised statement, Netanyahu said he would introduce a ceasefire for Cabinet ministers later on Tuesday, setting the stage for an end to almost 14 months of fighting.
Netanyahu said that a vote is expected later on Tuesday. It was not yet clear when the ceasefire would begin, and the terms of the agreement had not been released. The agreement does not affect Israel’s war with Hamas in Gaza, which shows no signs of ending.
Evacuation warnings affect many areas, including parts of Beirut that were not previously targeted. These warnings, coupled with fears that Israel was planning an attack before the ceasefire, caused civilians to flee. Cars were locked, some cars were tied to mattresses. Dozens of people, some in their pajamas, gathered in the central square, huddling under blankets or standing in flames as Israeli drones buzzed overhead.
Hezbollah, meanwhile, continued its rocket fire, triggering air raid alarms in northern Israel.
Lebanese officials said Hezbollah also supports the deal. If approved by all parties, the deal would be a major step toward ending the war between Israel and Hezbollah that has raised tensions around the region and raised fears of a widespread conflict between Israel and Hezbollah’s sponsor, Iran.
The deal calls for an initial two-month ceasefire and will require Hezbollah to end its armed presence in a wide swath of southern Lebanon, while Israeli forces will return to their side of the border. Thousands of Lebanese soldiers and UN peacekeepers would be sent to the south, and an international team led by the United States would monitor all sides for compliance.
But implementation is still a big question mark. Israel has demanded the right to act if Hezbollah breaks its commitments. Lebanese officials refused to write that into the proposal. Israel’s Defense Minister Israel Katz stressed on Tuesday that the military will strike against Hezbollah if the UN peacekeeping force, known as UNIFIL, does not provide “guarantees of the effectiveness” of the agreement.
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“If you do nothing, we will take action, with great force,” said Katz, speaking to UN special envoy Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert.
The chief executive of the European Union, Josep Borrell, said on Tuesday that Israel’s security problems had been resolved in the agreement negotiated by France.
“There is no excuse for not implementing the cease-fire proposal. Otherwise, Lebanon will collapse,” Borrell told reporters in Italy on the sidelines of the Group of Seven meeting. He said that France will participate in the committee to implement the ceasefire at the request of Lebanon.
Bombing of areas south of Beirut continues
Although Israeli, US, Lebanese and international officials have expressed growing hope for a ceasefire, Israel has continued its campaign in Lebanon, saying it aims to cripple Hezbollah’s military power.
An Israeli strike on Tuesday hit a central building in Beirut’s Basta district – the second time in recent days that warplanes have struck a densely populated area near the city. At least seven people died and 37 were injured, according to Lebanon’s Ministry of Health.
Three people were killed in a separate strike in Beirut and three in a strike in a Palestinian refugee camp in southern Lebanon. Lebanese state media said ten more people were killed in the eastern province of Baalbek. Israel says it is targeting Hezbollah fighters and their infrastructure.
Earlier, Israeli planes hit at least six buildings in areas south of Beirut. Another strike hit near the country’s only airport, sending smoke billowing into the sky. The airport continued to operate despite being located on the Mediterranean coast near the densely populated areas where most of Hezbollah’s operations are based.
Israeli military spokesman Avichay Adraee issued evacuation warnings for 20 buildings in the suburbs, as well as a warning for the southern city of Naqoura where UNIFIL headquarters are located.
UNIFIL spokeswoman Andrea Tenenti told The Associated Press that the peacekeepers would not leave.
Other strikes hit the southern city of Tyre, where Israeli forces said they killed a local Hezbollah commander.
The Israeli army also said that its ground forces encountered Hezbollah fighters who destroyed rockets in the Slouqi area east of the Litani River, a few kilometers from the Israeli border.
Previous hopes for an armistice were dashed
Under the ceasefire agreement, Hezbollah will be required to withdraw its forces north of Litani, an area about 30 kilometers (20 miles) north of the border.
The cessation of hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah, a powerful Iranian-backed force in the region, is likely to ease regional tensions that have led to fears of a direct, all-out war between Israel and Iran. It is not yet clear how it will affect Israel’s war with Hamas in Gaza. Hezbollah has long insisted that it will not agree to a ceasefire until the end of the war in Gaza, but rejected that position.
Hezbollah opened fire in northern Israel, saying it was a show of support for the Palestinians, a day after Hamas carried out its attack on October 7, 2023, in southern Israel, which started the war in Gaza. Israel returned fire to Hezbollah, and the two sides have been exchanging blows ever since.
Israel increased its bombing campaign in mid-September and later sent troops into Lebanon, vowing to end Hezbollah fire so tens of thousands of displaced Israelis could return to their homes.
More than 3,760 people have been killed by Israeli fire in Lebanon in the past 13 months, most of them civilians, according to Lebanese health officials. The bombing drove 1.2 million people from their homes. Israel says it has killed more than 2,000 Hezbollah members.
Hezbollah’s fire has forced about 50,000 Israelis to leave the north of the country, and its rockets have reached the far reaches of Israel in Tel Aviv. At least 75 people have been killed, more than half of them civilians. More than 50 Israeli soldiers died during the ground attack in Lebanon.
After earlier hopes of an armistice were dashed, US officials warned that the talks were far from complete and noted that there could be last-minute setbacks that could delay or destroy the deal.
“Nothing is done until everything is done,” said White House national security spokesman John Kirby.
Although the ceasefire proposal is expected to be approved if Netanyahu brings it to a vote in his security cabinet, another hard-line member, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, has said he will oppose it. He told X that the deal with Lebanon would be a “huge mistake” and a “historic opportunity to eliminate Hezbollah.”
–Federman reported from Jerusalem. Associated Press reporters Lujain Jo and Sally Abou AlJoud in Beirut contributed.