Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s security cabinet has approved a US plan for a ceasefire with Hezbollah, marking a breakthrough in the devastating conflict that has gripped the Middle East. Netanyahu’s office said the plan was approved by a 10-1 margin.
The late-night vote came shortly before US president Joe Biden was expected to announce details of the deal in Washington. The United States has informed the Lebanese government that the ceasefire between Hezbollah and Israel will take effect at 4am (2am GMT) on Wednesday, two senior Lebanese officials said.
Earlier, Netanyahu defended the ceasefire, saying Israel had inflicted heavy damage on Hezbollah and could now focus its efforts on Hamas militants in Gaza along with his top security concern, Iran. Netanyahu vowed to strike Hezbollah hard if it violates the expected deal.
The agreement comes as Israel launched its most intense wave of attacks yet on the bustling centre of Beirut, and as it issued a record number of evacuation orders.
For more than a year, near-daily rocket fire, ferocious airstrikes, and on-the-ground battles between Israeli forces and the militant group have claimed the lives of thousands of people in Lebanon.
In a televised speech earlier on Tuesday, the Israeli prime minister said he had recommended the deal to his war cabinet.
“This evening I will bring a ceasefire outline for the cabinet’s approval. The length of the ceasefire depends on what happens in Lebanon,” Netanyahu said, adding that if Hezbollah violates the agreement, tries to arm itself, or rebuilds its infrastructure, “we will attack”.
“A year later, it is not the same Hezbollah. We have pushed them back decades. We eliminated [Hezbollah chief Hassan] Nasrallah, the axis of the axis. We have taken out the organisation’s top leadership, we have destroyed most of their rockets and missiles… infrastructure they had been building for years.”
He cited three reasons for backing the agreement, which has been condemned by far-right members of his government. These include “focusing on the Iranian threat”, allowing Israeli forces to refresh, and separating the conflict from the war in Gaza, further isolating militant group Hamas.
“We have turned the tables,” he said, adding: “The ground in Beirut is shaking.”
Netanyahu gave no details of what was in the agreement that he put to his cabinet. However, previous reports suggested it would include a 60-day truce, including the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Lebanon and the removal of Hezbollah fighters and weapons from south of the Litani River, Lebanon’s largest waterway.
Thousands of troops from the Lebanese army would be deployed, and an international committee headed up by the US would monitor the implementation of the ceasefire.
Under the reported terms of the plan, the US would lead a five-country monitoring committee, while the UN peacekeeping force in the south of Lebanon (Unifil) would be reinforced.
Following the news that the deal was to be recommended to the cabinet, Rana Sahili, a media spokesperson for Hezbollah, told The Independent that the militant group does “not trust the Israelis”. “The countries that support [the Israelis] must provide guarantees,” Ms Sahili added.
If successfully enforced, the ceasefire would bring to a halt ferocious fighting that has pushed the Middle East to the brink of an all-out regional war.
The Lebanese health ministry says nearly 3,800 people have been killed in Lebanon in the 13 months since fighting erupted and the nearly two months since Israel launched a ground invasion into Lebanon. At least 73 Israeli soldiers have been killed in northern Israel, in the Golan Heights, and in combat in southern Lebanon, according to Israeli authorities.
The past few weeks have been the deadliest and most devastating for Lebanon in decades, the United Nations said this week. The UN’s humanitarian office said that Israel had “dramatically intensified” its airstrikes and ground incursions, resulting in an average of 250 deaths per week in November alone.
The conflict has sparked an unprecedented humanitarian crisis and displaced more than a million people, according to the Lebanese health ministry, including half a million who have fled to war-ravaged Syria.
Black smoke rose above Beirut on Tuesday night as Israel carried out a fresh wave of large-scale, deadly airstrikes in the bustling commercial heart of the Lebanese capital. Civilians fleeing the centre of the city sent photos to The Independent showing panicked families stuck in long traffic jams.
The Israeli military said it had also struck dozens of sites in southern parts of Lebanon over several hours, and claimed to have killed a commander of Hezbollah in a ground attack. At one point it released footage of its air force striking 20 targets in two minutes across Beirut. In total, 23 people were killed across the country, according to local Lebanese authorities.
Global pressure has been mounting for a ceasefire in the conflict, which has threatened to spread across the Middle East region. Earlier in the day, US secretary of state Antony Blinken said Washington had been focused on trying to get a ceasefire agreement over the line. “We’re intensely focused on this; we will be until the last day of this administration,” he said, defending Israel’s actions in Beirut by saying that both sides had exchanged fire regularly throughout the conflict.
Before that, the European Union’s top diplomat Josep Borrell urged Israel to back the ceasefire deal, which he said had all the necessary security guarantees for Israel.
“No more excuses. No more additional requests,” Mr Borrell said.
G7 nations meeting in Italy on Tuesday also issued a statement pressing Israel to accept the ceasefire, saying: “Now is the time to conclude a diplomatic settlement.”
In a draft statement at the end of a two-day meeting in Italy, the G7 ministers urged Israel to facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid to Palestinians, and condemned the increasing settler violence in the West Bank.
However, Netanyahu also faced pressure from inside his government against accepting a deal, with far-right national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir claiming on social-media platform X (formerly Twitter) that the agreement does not ensure the return of Israelis to their homes in the country’s north, and that the Lebanese army does not have the ability to overcome Hezbollah.
“In order to leave Lebanon, we must have our own security belt,” Mr Ben-Gvir said. Israeli mayors in the northern towns and communities of Israel also denounced the deal, telling The Independent it amounted to “surrender”.
Israel’s defence minister, Israel Katz, said the nation would show “zero tolerance” towards any infraction, as Israel demanded that the UN enforce the terms of the agreement.
However, the prospect of a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hezbollah without a similar deal with Hamas in Gaza left Palestinians feeling abandoned and fearful that Israel would now turn its focus squarely on the territory.
“It showed Gaza is an orphan, with no support and no mercy from the unjust world,” said Abdel-Ghani, a father of five who only gave his first name.
