Netanyahu expected to approve Israel-Lebanon ceasefire deal

Israel’s state security cabinet is expected to discuss a draft ceasefire deal with Lebanon on Tuesday before putting it to a vote, amid continued airstrikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs.  

The cabinet “will meet this afternoon, on Tuesday, to discuss the draft ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hezbollah in preparation for its approval”, the Israeli public Kan broadcaster said.

“Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu intends to get the agreement with Lebanon passed through the [state security] cabinet only” and not through the wider Israeli government, Kan added.

The Knesset – Israel’s parliament – does not need to vote on the deal, Kan said.

The state security cabinet is a smaller cabinet within the main government that focuses on Israel’s foreign and defence policies, overseeing major decisions taken throughout Israel’s wars on Gaza and Lebanon.

Lebanese government sources have told LBCI that an agreement would be announced on Wednesday from the Grand Serail, Beirut’s council of ministers.

Lebanon and Israel reportedly agreed to a US-brokered deal on Monday that would end the war between Israel and Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah group.

Cross-border clashes between Hezbollah and Israel erupted in October last year after the outbreak of war in Gaza.

Israel dramatically escalated its attacks on Lebanon in mid-September, turning the conflict into a full-blown war, destroying large parts of southern Lebanon, Beirut’s southern suburbs and the eastern Beqaa region but also taking out key Hezbollah leaders.

Over 3,700 people in Lebanon and more than 15,000 wounded as a result of the Israeli attacks, while around 1.3 million civilians have been displaced.

Netanyahu is expected to hold talks with mayors of northern Israeli towns and then make a statement to media on Tuesday, Kan said. Some reports said the premier was expected to make an announcement at 6pm local time (4pm GMT).

Knesset member and former Israeli defence minister Benny Gantz said, “We must work with care and not miss the opportunity to reach a strong agreement to radically change the situation in the north.”

Israel’s extremist National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has come out against the deal, saying it would be a “historical missed opportunity” to completely eradicate Hezbollah.

Israel’s Heritage Minister Amihai Eliyahu, who previously called for a nuclear bomb to be dropped on Gaza, also opposes the deal, unless “it is to buy time until the new US [Trump] administration takes office”.

LBCI‘s Israel correspondent said Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, another extremist, is expected to vote in favour of the deal despite his initial opposition.

Although the ceasefire process is making progress, both sides continued trading fire on Tuesday.

The Israeli military issued more evacuation orders for locations south of Beirut, as reports in Israel warned of imminent Hezbollah rocket barrages.

The continuation of cross-border strikes is expected and is not expected to jeopardise the deal; Netanyahu had previously said negotiations would happen under fire.

Netanyahu, along with his former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, are now the targets of an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) last week for alleged war crimes in Gaza.

The mayor of the coastal Israeli town of Nahariyya in northern Israel warned residents not to leave their homes for at least two days unless it was completely necessary.

Two people were wounded, one seriously by Hezbollah rocket fire in the town on Monday evening.

Hezbollah has over the past few days fired deep into Israel, including the southern port city of Ashdod for the first time in this war.

Clashes between Hezbollah’s fighters and Israeli soldiers continued in different parts of southern Lebanon with large explosions heard in the border town of Khiam on Monday, as Israeli forces tried to fully capture the town.

Lebanon’s foreign ministry said Tuesday that 10 Lebanese soldiers were killed, and 35 others were wounded in a week of deliberate Israeli attacks. The Lebanese army – which has not been involved in the fighting – will play a crucial role in implementing a ceasefire agreement between the two sides.