Israel Expected to Approve Ceasefire With Hezbollah This Afternoon

According to Reuters, Israel is preparing to approve an American cease-fire plan with Lebanese Hezbollah on Tuesday.

Lebanese Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib expressed at a G7 meeting in Italy the hope that a ceasefire would be concluded by Tuesday evening. Israel’s security cabinet is expected to meet later today to discuss and likely approve the text in a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

According to four senior Lebanese sources cited by Reuters, the approval would pave the way for a ceasefire declaration by U.S. President Joe Biden and French President Emmanuel Macron.

The agreement calls for Israeli troops to withdraw from southern Lebanon and for the Lebanese army to deploy to the region – a Hezbollah stronghold – within 60 days. Hezbollah should end its armed presence along the border south of the Litani River.

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said Tuesday that Israel demands effective UN enforcement of the ceasefire and will show “zero tolerance” for any violations. The agreement with Lebanon maintains Israel’s freedom of action to act defensively and eliminate threats posed by Hezbollah, allowing displaced residents to return safely to their homes in northern Israel.

Signs of a diplomatic breakthrough are accompanied by military escalation. Israeli airstrikes destroyed part of Beirut’s southern suburbs controlled by Hezbollah, while the terrorist group continued its rocket attacks towards Israel.

The toll is heavy: more than 3,750 people have been killed in Lebanon and more than a million have been displaced, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Health. On the Israeli side, Hezbollah strikes killed 45 civilians in northern Israel and the occupied Golan, as well as at least 73 Israeli soldiers.

The Biden administration, which leaves office in January, has focused on diplomacy to end the conflict in Lebanon, even as all negotiations to stop the parallel war in Gaza are frozen. US Middle East envoy Brett McGurk will be in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday to discuss using a potential ceasefire in Lebanon as a catalyst for a deal to end hostilities in Gaza.