Netanyahu says Israel security Cabinet set to approve Lebanon truce

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM — Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday he would bring a US-brokered proposal for a ceasefire with Hizbollah in Lebanon to his security Cabinet for a vote as soon as this evening.

Citizens of Israel, this evening I will bring a ceasefire outline for the Cabinet's approval," Netanyahu said in a televised address. "The length of the ceasefire depends on what happens in Lebanon."

The United States, European Union, United Nations and G7, among others, have pushed for a halt to the long-running hostilities between Israel and Hizbollah, which escalated into full-scale war in late September.

But as the pressure for a truce has intensified, so too have air raids and ground battles between Israel and Iran-backed Hizbollah.

Waves of strikes pounded Hizbollah's south Beirut stronghold Tuesday after a flurry of Israeli evacuation warnings, AFPTV footage showed, in the heaviest raids since Israel's air campaign escalated.

Lebanon's state-run National News Agency said that "a belt of fire has encircled [the city's] southern suburbs" as raids targeted Burj Al Barajneh, Haret Hreik and Hadath.

The NNA reported that another strike in the central "Nweiri area in Beirut destroyed a four-storey building housing displaced people". It killed three people and injured 26, the health ministry said.

Rola Jaafar, who lives in the building opposite, said: "We were blown away and the walls fell on top of us."

Israel's military said it attacked 20 Hizbollah "terror targets" in the Beirut area, including command centres, "weapons storage facilities" and "components of Hizbollah's financial system".

It also said it had hit 30 targets in south Lebanon since the morning, and troops had "engaged in close-quarters combat with terrorists" and destroyed hidden weapons caches during ground raids in the Litani River region.

On the diplomatic front, Israel's deputy foreign minister Sharren Haskel said the security cabinet would meet later Tuesday to discuss a ceasefire deal, though she declined "to go into details about it because of the sensitivity of the issue".

An Israeli official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said previously the cabinet would make its decision on Tuesday evening.

The United States and France have led the efforts to broker a ceasefire, and US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said Monday talks had reached a "point where we're close".

G7 foreign ministers called Tuesday for an "immediate ceasefire" in Lebanon, saying in a statement: "Now is the time to conclude a diplomatic settlement."

Britain also called for a truce, saying this was "the only way to restore security" for civilians in Lebanon and northern Israel, while Germany said a deal was "within reach".

US news outlet Axios reported that the draft agreement included a 60-day transition period.

During that time, Israeli forces would withdraw, the Lebanese army would redeploy near the border and Hizbollah would move its heavy weapons north of the Litani River, Axios said.

A US-led committee would oversee implementation, with provisions allowing Israel to act against imminent threats if Lebanese forces failed to intervene.

Defence minister Israel Katz told the UN's Lebanon envoy on Tuesday that Israel would have "zero tolerance" when defending its security interests, even after a truce.

"If you do not act, we will do it, forcefully," Katz told Janine Hennis-Plasschaert during a meeting in Tel Aviv, a statement from his office said.

Deal a 'mistake' 

Israeli media have reported that prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu is likely to endorse the US ceasefire proposal.

The war in Lebanon followed nearly a year of limited cross-border exchanges of fire initiated by Hizbollah.

The Lebanese group said it was acting in support of Hamas after the Palestinian group's October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, which sparked the war in Gaza.

Lebanon says at least 3,799 people have been killed in the country since October 2023, most of them in the past several weeks.

On the Israeli side, the Lebanon hostilities have killed at least 82 soldiers and 47 civilians, authorities say.