Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced Tuesday evening that the security cabinet will adopt a ceasefire in Lebanon “this evening.” In his speech, he immediately warned that Israel would “respond” if Lebanese Hezbollah violated this truce.
He also said that Israel would “retain complete freedom of action in Lebanon,” while saying it now wanted to “focus on the Iranian threat.”
Earlier in the day, the Israeli security cabinet met to review and decide on a ceasefire agreement in the war against Hezbollah in Lebanon, as the Israeli army shells the heart of Beirut , and its southern suburbs.
All day Tuesday, the international community increased calls for Israel to accept the truce. On Tuesday, the head of diplomacy of the European Union, Josep Borrell, affirmed that Israel had “no excuse” to refuse the ceasefire in Lebanon negotiated by the United States and France. .
“No more excuses, no more additional requests, stop this fighting, stop killing people, and let’s start thinking about peace,” he insisted.
American Secretary of State Antony Blinken, for his part, estimated on Tuesday that talks for a ceasefire in Lebanon were on track. “We are not there yet, but I believe we are in the final phase,” said Antony Blinken after a meeting with his G7 counterparts, near Rome. He added that such a ceasefire would also help end the conflict in Gaza.
Despite everything, uncertainty reigned in Lebanon, the Israeli army having called on Tuesday for the evacuation of four areas in the center of Beirut sheltering, according to it, Hezbollah infrastructures. These calls caused panic in the targeted neighborhoods, with motorists honking their horns to escape as quickly as possible, according to witnesses.
And a first Israeli strike, early in the afternoon, left 7 dead and 37 injured according to the Lebanese Ministry of Health.