Israel to discuss ceasefire in Lebanon on Tuesday

The Israeli security cabinet meets on Tuesday to discuss a ceasefire in Lebanon, where Israel is at war with Hezbollah, while the United States spoke of a close agreement, while urging caution.

At a time when diplomatic efforts are intensifying, Israel is increasing bombings on the strongholds of the Islamist movement, particularly on the southern suburbs of Beirut which were targeted again on Tuesday after a call to evacuate. As of Monday, at least 31 people had been killed across Lebanon, according to authorities.

The United States, the European Union and the UN are trying to obtain a truce between Israel and the powerful Lebanese movement supported by Iran, which entered into open war at the end of September after months of exchanges of fire on the sidelines of the Israeli offensive in Gaza.

Israel n’a “no excuse” to refuse a ceasefire, said Tuesday the head of diplomacy of the European Union, Josep Borrell. “Hopefully today (Benjamin) Netanyahu’s government will approve the ceasefire agreement”he added.

The UN has reiterated its call for “permanent ceasefire” in Lebanon, Israel and Gaza.

The security cabinet is due to meet Tuesday afternoon to discuss a ceasefire agreement, announced Deputy Foreign Minister Sharren Haskel, refusing to go into details of the text.

“We think we are at the point where we are close” of an agreement, declared Monday John Kirby, a spokesperson for the White House, while emphasizing that nothing was yet certain.

Also very involved in mediation efforts, the French presidency affirmed on Monday that the discussions had “advanced significantly”.

But Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz warned Tuesday that his country would act “with force” in the event of violation of an agreement. “If you don’t act, we will, and forcefully”he said, quoted by his ministry, during an interview with the UN special coordinator for Lebanon, Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert.

The war that has been raging since October 2023 in the Gaza Strip between Israel and Hamas has spread to Lebanon since September, after a year of exchanges of fire on both sides of the border between the Israeli army and Hezbollah, ally of the Palestinian Islamist movement. Tens of thousands of civilians have been displaced in the border regions of northern Israel and southern Lebanon.

“Tunnels, rockets”

According to the American news site Axios, the agreement is based on an American project providing for a 60-day truce during which Hezbollah and the Israeli army would withdraw from southern Lebanon to allow the Lebanese army to deploy there.

It includes the establishment of an international committee to monitor its application, added Axios, specifying that the United States would have given assurances of its support for Israeli military action in the event of hostile acts by Hezbollah.

The mediation is based on UN Security Council Resolution 1701 which ended the previous war between Israel and Hezbollah in 2006, and which stipulates that only the Lebanese army and peacekeepers can be deployed to the southern border of Lebanon.

However, Israel’s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir said a ceasefire would be “a big mistake”.

Originally from northern Israel, Dorit Sison, a 51-year-old woman, said she feared a settlement like in 2006, which she said allowed Hezbollah to “rearm”. Now, she added, “they have tunnels, rockets, all possible munitions”.

For Nahum Donita, a 60-year-old Tel Aviv resident, “it is clear that Hezbollah cannot be trusted (…) But (…) the Israeli government is not trustworthy either”.

Israel says it wants to neutralize Hezbollah in southern Lebanon to secure its border and allow the return of 60,000 displaced residents. The Shiite movement, which has suffered very severe blows since September, has assured that it will fight Israel as long as the offensive in Gaza continues, while saying it is open to a cease-fire.

Hezbollah fired at least 30 projectiles at Israel on Monday, according to the army.

According to the Ministry of Health, nearly 3,800 people have been killed in Lebanon since October 2023, most since last September.

On the Israeli side, 82 soldiers and 47 civilians were killed in 13 months.

Protect yourself from the rain

The Israeli army is also continuing its strikes on the besieged Gaza Strip, where eleven people were killed overnight from Monday to Tuesday, according to Civil Defense.

At the start of winter, thousands of displaced people are trying with paltry means to protect themselves from the rain. “We try as much as we can to prevent rainwater from seeping into the tents so that the children don’t get soaked”says Ayman Siam, a father who took refuge in the Yarmouk camp in Gaza City, in the north.

Winter is going to be « horrible »warned Louise Wateridge, an emergency manager at the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA). The people of Gaza “have not had the most basic things for 13 months: no food, no water, no shelter. With the rain and the cold on top of all that…”she explained to AFP.

The war was triggered by the unprecedented attack launched by Hamas against Israel on October 7, 2023, which resulted in the deaths of 1,207 people on the Israeli side, mainly civilians, according to an AFP count based on official data. , including hostages killed or died in captivity.

The Israeli offensive carried out in retaliation in Gaza left at least 44,249 dead, the majority civilians, according to data from the Hamas Ministry of Health, deemed reliable by the UN.