Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has come out in support of a ceasefire deal with Hezbollah militants that will end nearly 14 months of fighting – but the deal, brokered by the US and France, still needs to be formally approved by his cabinet.
Netanyahu’s security cabinet met earlier on Tuesday, where ministers discussed the ceasefire proposal for more than three hours.
In a press conference during the negotiations, Netanyahu gave three reasons to support the deal: Focus on the threat of Iran; Give opportunity to renew the forces of Israel; and divide Hamas on the northern front.
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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meets with IDF commanders in the Netzarim Corridor in Gaza to discuss the work of Hamas. 11/19/2024 (Photo courtesy of TPS)
By ending the conflict with Hezbollah, Netanyahu said that Hamas would stand on its own, paving the way for the Israeli army to return the remaining hostages on October 7.
Netanyahu said he would present the agreement to the Cabinet for a vote later on Tuesday.
“How long it will take will depend on what will happen in Lebanon,” Netanyahu said. “If Hezbollah does not follow the agreement, we will attack.”
Under the terms of the proposed two-month ceasefire, Hezbollah is required to withdraw its forces north of the Litani River – a key area that in some places is 20 kilometers from the Israeli border – and Israeli forces must withdraw to the south. Lebanon again. Lebanese troops will be sent to the border region in 60 days, and a five-nation committee led by the US and France will monitor the implementation of the terms of the agreement, Reuters reported.
The peacekeeping operation carried out by observers of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) will also continue, according to the Israeli news agency Tazpit Press Service (TPS-IL).
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Among the remaining issues was Israel’s request to reserve the right to take military action if Hezbollah violates its obligations under the emerging agreement.
Smoke billows from Israeli bombings in southern Lebanon as seen from northern Israel, Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
The Israel Defense Forces said on Tuesday that ground forces had reached parts of the Litani River in Lebanon – considered a longtime Hezbollah stronghold.
In a statement, the IDF said its forces reached the Wadi Slouqi area in southern Lebanon and “raided Hezbollah strongholds, discovered and seized hundreds of weapons, dismantled dozens of underground facilities, and neutralized the explosives of many rockets that were being prepared for use soon.”
The IDF says the clash with Hezbollah took place at the end of Litani, just a few kilometers from the border. It is one of the deepest areas the Israeli army has reached in the nearly two-month operation.
The Israeli military said the soldiers “conducted an attack based on terrorist infrastructure hidden in a complex.”
Israeli soldiers at the Litani River in southern Lebanon on Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2024. (IDF/TPS-IL spokesperson)
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“Soldiers raided many areas that were attacked by terrorists, in close combat with terrorists, they found and destroyed a large number of explosives, thousands of rockets and missiles, and weapons caches hidden in the mountain,” the IDF said.
Hezbollah began attacking Israel on October 8, 2023, a day after Hamas terrorists killed more than 1,200 people and took more than 250 hostages from southern Israel to Gaza, starting a more than year-long war. That escalated in September with massive Israeli airstrikes across Lebanon, and Israeli raids in the south of the country. Hezbollah fired thousands of rockets at Israeli military ports, cities and towns, including 250 projectiles on Sunday.
More than 68,000 Israelis have been displaced from their homes along the Lebanese border, TPS-IL reports.
A Middle East Airlines plane takes off as smoke billows following an Israeli airstrike in Dahiyeh, Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
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.
The Israeli military also issued warnings to 20 other buildings in Hezbollah-controlled areas of Beirut to evacuate before they were also hit – a last minute move before the ceasefire.
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Speaking on the sidelines of the Group of Seven meeting in Italy, the European Union’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, said on Tuesday “there is no excuse” for Israel to reject a ceasefire with Hezbollah, warning that without it, “Lebanon will not break up.” “
The Times of Israel reported that Defense Minister Israel Katz met with UN special envoy to Lebanon Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert on Tuesday, where she said Jerusalem would have “zero tolerance” for any violation of the agreement, warning that “If we do it, we will do it … and with force hundreds.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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