Israel strikes the country again before the government’s decision on a possible ceasefire

INTERNATIONAL – The heart of Lebanon still affected. Less than 24 hours after “massive destruction”according to the Lebanese National Information Agency (Ani), new strikes targeted this Tuesday, November 26 in the morning the southern suburbs of Beirut, stronghold of Lebanese Hezbollah. The Israeli army had previously called for the evacuation of three buildings and their surrounding areas.

These strikes come as the Israeli security cabinet must decide at a meeting “this afternoon”on a ceasefire after two months of open war against pro-Iranian Hezbollah, as we explain to you in the video at the top of the article.

Israel pressured to accept truce deal

The United States, the European Union and the UN have stepped up efforts in recent days to impose a truce between Israel and the Lebanese Islamist movement. Israel does not have “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.

“We think we are at the point where we are close” of an agreement, declared John Kirby, the spokesperson for the White House National Security Council, while emphasizing that nothing was yet certain. “We think the discussions are going in a very positive direction. But nothing is finalized until everything is finalized”he warned.

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

The UN, for its part, reiterated its call for a “lasting ceasefire ”, and not a simple truce. “The only way to end the suffering of people on all sides is a permanent and immediate ceasefire on all fronts in Lebanon, Israel and Gaza”Jeremy Laurence, spokesperson for the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, told the press in Geneva.

No more fighting for 60 days?

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 their 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”. As for Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz, he warned on Tuesday that his country would act “with force” in the event of violation of the ceasefire agreement in Lebanon, if it were to be concluded.

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