Netanyahu supports ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hezbollah

Israel has agreed to a ceasefire deal with Hezbollah terrorists that would end nearly 14 months of fighting, President Biden announced Tuesday.

Biden said in the Rose Garden of the White House that Israel and Lebanon had agreed to the deal. Israel retains the right to self-defense if Hezbollah violates the agreement, Biden said.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s security cabinet met on Tuesday after ministers discussed the proposed deal for more than three hours.

The Political Security Cabinet approved the United States’ proposal for a ceasefire agreement in Lebanon, with 10 ministers in favor and one against, Netanyahu’s office said.

The ceasefire begins at 4 a.m. local time on Wednesday.

At a press conference during the negotiations, Netanyahu gave three reasons for supporting the deal: focusing on the Iranian threat; provide an opportunity to refresh the Israel Defense Forces; and separate Hamas from the northern front.

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meets with IDF commanders in Gaza’s Netzarim Corridor to discuss Hamas activities. November 19, 2024 (Photo provided by TPS)

By ending the conflict with Hezbollah, Netanyahu said Hamas would stand alone, clearing the way for Israeli forces to recover the remaining Oct. 7 hostages.

Netanyahu had previously said he would submit the agreement to the Cabinet for a vote later on Tuesday.

“How long it will take depends on what will happen in Lebanon,” Netanyahu said. “If Hezbollah does not abide by the agreement, we will attack.”

Under the proposed terms of an initial two-month ceasefire, Hezbollah must move its forces north of the Litani River – a major flashpoint that lies 20 miles from the Israeli border in some places – and Israeli forces must withdraw from southern Lebanon as well . Lebanese forces are expected to deploy to the border region within 60 days, and a five-country committee chaired by the United States, including France, will monitor compliance with the terms of the deal, Reuters reported.

According to the Israeli news agency Tazpit Press Service (TPS-IL), a peacekeeping mission by observers from the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon is also continuing.

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Among the remaining issues was Israel’s demand that it reserve the right to take military action should Hezbollah violate its obligations under the emerging agreement.

Smoke rises as seen from northern Israel after the Israeli bombardment in southern Lebanon on Tuesday, November 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced earlier on Tuesday that its ground forces had reached parts of Lebanon’s Litani River, considered a long-standing Hezbollah stronghold.

In a statement, the IDF said its troops had reached the Wadi Slouqi area in southern Lebanon and “raided Hezbollah strongholds, uncovered and seized hundreds of weapons, dismantled dozens of underground facilities and neutralized numerous rocket launchers prepared for immediate use.”

The IDF said the clashes with Hezbollah took place at the eastern end of the Litani, just a few miles from the border. It is one of the deepest places Israeli forces have reached in a nearly two-month ground operation.

The Israeli military said troops conducted “intelligence-based raids that relied on terrorist infrastructure hidden in the complex terrain.”

Israeli soldiers at the Litani River in southern Lebanon on Tuesday, November 26, 2024. (IDF spokesman/TPS-IL)

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“The soldiers raided several terrorist targets, engaged in hand-to-hand combat with terrorists, located and destroyed dozens of launchers, thousands of rockets and missiles, and weapons caches hidden in the mountainside,” the IDF said.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., praised the deal, saying it would allow Israelis displaced in the north to return to their homes and ensure Israel’s security from Hezbollah.

“As this agreement shows, when terrorists are repelled both militarily and through persistent diplomacy, the likelihood of peace increases. Hezbollah said they would never give up as long as there was fighting in Gaza, but today’s ceasefire agreement should show Hamas that they are.” “We are isolated as ever,” Schumer said in a statement. “Now Hamas must release all remaining hostages and come to a negotiated ceasefire. Continuing their failed strategy will only lead to further suffering and SENSELESS bloodshed in Gaza. Hamas must recognize that there is no future without a strong and secure State of Israel.”

“The ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hezbollah also provides for an enforcement mechanism to ensure that Hezbollah remains weakened and allows displaced Lebanese and Israeli civilians to return to their homes,” he added. “I applaud the Biden administration for this agreement and for continuing to work to negotiate a ceasefire and the return of all hostages in Gaza.”

Hezbollah began attacking Israel on October 8, 2023, a day after Hamas terrorists killed more than 1,200 people and took more than 250 hostages from southern Israel into the Gaza Strip, marking the start of more than a year of fighting. This escalated in September with massive Israeli air strikes on Lebanon and an Israeli ground attack in the south of the country. Hezbollah fired thousands of rockets at Israeli military bases and cities and towns on Sunday, including about 250 projectiles.

More than 68,000 Israelis have been forced from their homes along the Lebanese border, TPS-IL reports.

A Middle East Airlines plane flies as smoke rises following an Israeli airstrike on Dahiyeh in Beirut on Tuesday, November 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

An Israeli strike leveled a residential building in Beirut’s central Basta district on Tuesday – the second time in recent days that warplanes have struck the crowded area near the city’s downtown.

The Israeli military also warned that it would clear 20 more buildings in Hezbollah-controlled Beirut suburbs before they were also attacked, a move taken in the final moments before a ceasefire took effect.

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On the sidelines of a Group of Seven meeting in Italy, European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said on Tuesday there were “no excuses” for Israel to reject a ceasefire with Hezbollah and warned that “without this ceasefire, Lebanon will will do”. fall apart.”

The Times of Israel reported that Defense Minister Israel Katz met with UN special envoy to Lebanon Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert on Tuesday when he said Jerusalem would have “zero tolerance” for any violation of the ceasefire and warned: “If you don’t do this?” “If we don’t, we will do it… with great force.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.