Israel cabinet to agree 'this evening' on Lebanon truce deal
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday recommended his Cabinet approve a United States-brokered ceasefire agreement with Lebanon's Hezbollah, setting the stage for an end to nearly 14 months of fighting linked to the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip.
Israel stepped up its bombardment of Lebanon in the hours leading up to the Cabinet meeting, killing at least 23 people, according to local authorities. The military also issued a flurry of evacuation warnings — a sign it aims to keep pummeling Hezbollah in the final hours before any ceasefire takes hold.
In a televised statement, Netanyahu said he would present the ceasefire proposal to Cabinet ministers later Tuesday, when they are expected to vote on it.
"Citizens of Israel, this evening I will bring a ceasefire outline for the cabinet's approval," Netanyahu said in a televised address. "The length of the ceasefire depends on what happens in Lebanon."
He listed a series of accomplishments against Israel’s enemies across the region in recent months. He said a ceasefire with Hezbollah would further isolate Hamas in Gaza and would allow Israel to turn its focus to Iran — Hezbollah's backer and Israel's biggest threat in the region. He vowed to strike Hezbollah hard if it violates the agreement.
“If Hezbollah breaks the agreement and tries to rearm, we will attack,” he said. “For every violation, we will attack with might.”
It was not immediately clear when the ceasefire would go into effect, and the exact terms of the deal were not released. The deal does not affect Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza, which shows no signs of ending.
Lebanese officials have said Hezbollah also supports the deal. If approved by all sides, the deal would be a major step toward ending the war that has inflamed tensions across the region and raised fears of an even wider conflict between Israel and Iran.
The deal calls for a two-month initial halt in fighting and would require Hezbollah to end its armed presence in a broad swath of southern Lebanon, while Israeli troops would return to their side of the border. Thousands of Lebanese troops and U.N. peacekeepers would deploy in the south, and an international panel headed by the United States would monitor all sides’ compliance.
But implementation remains a major question mark. Israel has demanded the right to act should Hezbollah violate its obligations. Lebanese officials have rejected writing that into the proposal. Israel's Defense Minister Israel Katz insisted on Tuesday that the military would strike Hezbollah if the U.N. peacekeeping force, known as UNIFIL, doesn’t provide “effective enforcement” of the deal.