People watch on in Beirut as Netanyahu announces Israel’s agreement to a ceasefire deal with Hezbollah [Getty/file photo]
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday said he has approved of a ceasefire deal with Lebanon and would “respond forcefully to any violation” by Hezbollah.
In a television address, Netanyahu said he would put the ceasefire accord to his full cabinet later in the evening who must approve the deal. Israeli TV reported that the more restricted security cabinet had earlier approved.
“We will enforce the agreement and respond forcefully to any violation. Together, we will continue until victory,” he said.
“In full coordination with the United States, we retain complete military freedom of action. Should Hezbollah violate the agreement or attempt to rearm, we will strike decisively.”
Netanyahu did not say how long the truce would last, noting “the length of the ceasefire depends on what happens in Lebanon”.
Key Israel ally the United States has led ceasefire efforts for Lebanon alongside allies, including France.
He added that there were three reasons to pursue a ceasefire – to focus on Iran, replenish depleted arms supplies and give the army a rest, and “to isolate Hamas”, who Israel has been at war with for over a year in Gaza, where at over 44,000 have been killed.
He said Hezbollah was considerably weaker than it had been at the start of the conflict.
“We have set it back decades, eliminated its top leaders, destroyed most of its rockets and missiles, neutralized thousands of fighters, and obliterated years of terror infrastructure near our border,” he said.
“We targeted strategic objectives across Lebanon, shaking Beirut to its core.”
If implemented, the ceasefire will entail the complete withdrawal of Israeli troops from Lebanon’s south, where the Israeli army has been carrying out deadly daily strikes, Hezbollah moving away from the border south of the Litani River.
The Lebanese army would then need to deploy in the region within 60 days.
Extremist National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said he will “oppose” the ceasefire deal with Hezbollah, calling it as “a historic mistake”, but didn’t clarify whether his far-right Otzma Yehudit party will quit in protest.
“This isn’t a ceasefire. It’s a return to the concept of quiet for quiet, and will already saw where this leads,” Ben Gvir said in a post on X, adding that Israel will “again need to return to Lebanon”.
Lebanon’s caretaker PM, Najib Mikati, demanded in a statement on Tuesday that the international community “act swiftly” to halt Israeli aggression “and implement an immediate ceasefire”.
Mikati said the intense wave of Israeli air strikes on Beirut on Tuesday “reaffirms that the Israeli enemy has no regard for any law or consideration”.
“The international community is called upon to act swiftly to stop this aggression and implement an immediate ceasefire,” he said in his statement, which was issued before a strike hit the central Hamra commercial district.
The war In Lebanon has killed at least 3,799 people since October 2023, according to the health ministry, most of them since September after Israel began intensifying its aggression against Lebanon.
