Israel approves ceasefire agreement with Hezbollah, Netanyahu says – nationally
Israel approved a cease-fire deal with the United States and Lebanon’s Hezbollah on Tuesday, setting the stage for an end to nearly 14 months of fighting related to the ongoing conflict in the Gaza Strip.
In the hours before the Cabinet meeting, Israel carried out its most powerful strikes in Beirut and its southern suburbs and issued a record number of evacuation warnings. At least 24 people were killed in strikes across the country, according to local authorities, as Israel signaled it intended to continue its strikes against Hezbollah in the final hours before any ceasefire was lifted.
Israel’s security cabinet approved the ceasefire agreement on Tuesday afternoon after it was presented by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his office said. US President Joe Biden, speaking in Washington, called the agreement “good news” and said his administration would launch a new campaign to stop the violence in Gaza.
The Israel-Hezbollah truce would mark the first major step in ending the chaos around the region caused by Hamas’ attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. But it does not talk about the devastating war in Gaza.
US President-elect Donald Trump has vowed to bring peace to the Middle East, but he and Netanyahu have not proposed a post-war settlement in the Palestinian territories, where Hamas still holds dozens of hostages and the conflict is raging.
However, any ceasefire in Lebanon is expected to reduce the chances of a war between Israel and Iran, which supports Hezbollah and Hamas and has exchanged fire with Israel twice earlier this year.
Israel says it will ‘attack with force’ if Hezbollah violates the deal
Netanyahu presented the ceasefire proposal to Cabinet ministers after a televised address in which he listed a series of achievements against Israel’s enemies across the region. He said ending the war with Hezbollah would further isolate Hamas in Gaza and allow Israel to focus on its main enemy, Iran, which supports both groups.
“If Hezbollah breaks the agreement and tries to attack again, we will attack,” he said. “For every violation of the law, we will attack with force.”
Netanyahu’s office later said Israel appreciates US efforts to secure the deal but “reserves the right to act against all threats to its security.”
It was not yet clear when the ceasefire would begin, and the terms of the agreement had not been released.
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 additional Lebanese troops and UN peacekeepers would be sent south, and an international team led by the United States would monitor all sides for compliance.
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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.
Biden said Israel has the right to resume operations in Lebanon if Hezbollah violates the terms of the deal, but said the deal was “designed to end hostilities once and for all.”
Hezbollah said it accepted the proposal, but a senior official in the organization said on Tuesday it had not yet seen a final agreement.
“After reviewing the agreement signed by the enemy government, we will see if there is any similarity between what we said and what the Lebanese officials agreed to,” Mahmoud Qamati, deputy chairman of Hezbollah’s political council, told the Al Jazeera news network. .
“We want the violence to end, but not because of the sovereignty of the state.” from Lebanon, he said. “Any violation of sovereignty is rejected.”
Warplanes attack Beirut and its southern suburbs
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. The strikes in areas south of Beirut killed at least one person and wounded 13, the report said.
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.
Israel also hit a building in Beirut’s Hamra commercial district for the first time, hitting a site 400 meters (yards) from the Central Bank of Lebanon. There were no reports of injuries.
The Israeli military said it had raided Beirut and other areas linked to Hezbollah’s financial wing.
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.
Israeli military spokesman Avichay Adraee issued evacuation warnings for 20 buildings in southern Beirut, where Hezbollah has a large population, as well as a warning for the southern city of Naqoura where the UN peacekeeping force, UNIFIL, is headquartered.
UNIFIL spokeswoman Andrea Tenenti told The Associated Press that the peacekeepers would not leave.
Israeli soldiers reach the Litani River in southern Lebanon
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.
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.
Hezbollah launched an attack in northern Israel, saying it was a show of support for the Palestinians, a day after Hamas launched its attack on October 7, 2023, in southern Israel, which started the conflict 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.
-Chehayeb and Moue reported from Beirut. Associated Press reporters Lujain Jo and Sally Abou AlJoud in Beirut contributed.
