Netanyahu says he supports ceasefire proposal with Lebanese Hezbollah – The Irish News

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said he will recommend to his cabinet a US-brokered ceasefire deal with Lebanese Hezbollah.

He made the announcement as Israeli warplanes flew into Lebanon, killing at least 23 people.

The Israeli military also issued a series of evacuation warnings – a sign that it wanted to punish Hezbollah until the final moments before a ceasefire takes effect.

For the first time in the conflict, Israeli ground forces reached parts of Lebanon’s Litani River, a flashpoint of the nascent accord.

In a televised statement, Netanyahu said he would present the ceasefire to Cabinet ministers later today, paving the way for an end to nearly 14 months of fighting.

It was not immediately clear when the ceasefire would come 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.

The evacuation warnings covered many areas, including parts of Beirut that had not previously been targeted. The warnings, coupled with fears that Israel was stepping up attacks before a ceasefire, sent residents fleeing.

Hezbollah, meanwhile, continued to fire rockets, setting off airstrike sirens across northern Israel.

Lebanese officials have said Hezbollah also supports the deal. If the deal is approved by all parties, it would be a significant step toward ending the war between Israel and Hezbollah, which has fueled tensions in the region and raised fears of an even bigger conflict between Israel and Hezbollah’s patron, Iran.

The deal calls for an initial two-month halt to fighting and requires 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 troops and U.N. peacekeepers would be deployed in the south, and a U.S.-led international panel would monitor compliance by all sides.

But implementation remains a big question mark. Israel has demanded the right to act if Hezbollah violates its obligations. Lebanese officials have refused to include this in the proposal.

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz insisted on Tuesday that the army would attack Hezbollah if the UN peacekeeping force, known as Unifil, does not ensure “effective enforcement” of the deal.

“If you do not act, we will act, and with great force,” Katz said in a conversation with UN Special Envoy Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert.

The European Union’s top diplomat, Josep Borrell, said on Tuesday that Israel’s security concerns were addressed in the deal also brokered by France.

“There is no excuse for not implementing a ceasefire. Otherwise, Lebanon will fall apart,” Borrell told reporters in Italy on the sidelines of a G7 meeting. He said France would participate in the ceasefire implementation committee at the request of Lebanon.

Even as Israeli, American, Lebanese and international officials have expressed growing optimism about a ceasefire, Israel has continued its campaign in Lebanon, which it says aims to cripple Hezbollah’s military capabilities.

An Israeli strike leveled a residential building in Beirut’s central Basta neighborhood on Tuesday – the second time in recent days that warplanes have hit the busy area. At least seven people were killed and 37 injured, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry.

Three people were killed in a separate attack in Beirut and three in an attack on a Palestinian refugee camp in southern Lebanon. Lebanese state media reported that another 10 people were killed in the eastern province of Baalbek. Israel says it is targeting Hezbollah fighters and their infrastructure.

Earlier, Israeli planes bombed at least six buildings in the southern suburbs of Beirut. One attack occurred near the country’s only airport, sending plumes of smoke into the air. The airport has continued to operate despite its location on the Mediterranean coast, next to the densely populated suburbs where much of Hezbollah’s activities 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’s headquarters are located.

UNIFIL spokesperson Andrea Tenenti told the Associated Press that peacekeepers will not evacuate.

Other attacks took place in the southern city of Tyre, where the Israeli army said it had killed a local Hezbollah commander.

The Israeli army also said its ground forces clashed with Hezbollah forces and destroyed rocket launchers in the Slouqi area on the east side of the Litani River, a few kilometers from the Israeli border.

Under the ceasefire, Hezbollah would have to move its forces north of the Litani, which in some places are about 20 miles (30 kilometers) north of the border.

A ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, the strongest Iranian-backed force in the region, would likely significantly reduce regional tensions that have led to fears of an immediate, all-out war between Israel and Iran.

It is not clear what impact the ceasefire will have on the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza. Hezbollah had long insisted it would not agree to a ceasefire until the war in Gaza is over, but dropped that condition.

Hezbollah began shooting at northern Israel, saying it was showing support for the Palestinians, a day after Hamas launched its attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, sparking the Gaza war. Israel returned fire on Hezbollah, and the two sides have been exchanging firefights ever since.

Israel escalated its bombing campaign in mid-September and later sent troops to Lebanon, promising to end Hezbollah fire so that tens of thousands of evacuated Israelis could return to their homes.

More than 3,760 people have been killed by Israeli fire in Lebanon in the past 13 months, many of them civilians, according to Lebanese health officials. The bombing has driven 1.2 million people from their homes. Israel says it has killed more than 2,000 Hezbollah members.

Hezbollah fire has forced some 50,000 Israelis to evacuate in the north of the country, and the rockets have reached southern Israel, even Tel Aviv. At least 75 people have been killed, more than half of them civilians. More than fifty Israeli soldiers have been killed in the ground offensive in Lebanon.