New strikes in Lebanon, Israel will discuss a ceasefire on Tuesday

(Jerusalem) Israel’s security cabinet meets Tuesday to discuss a ceasefire in Lebanon, where Israel is at war with Hezbollah, while the United States spoke of a near agreement, while calling for caution.

At a time when diplomatic efforts are intensifying, Israel is increasing bombings on the strongholds of the Islamist movement, notably the southern suburbs of Beirut.

Consecutive strikes targeted the southern suburbs of Beirut early Tuesday afternoon, after a call from the Israeli army to evacuate 20 areas of this Hezbollah stronghold, according to AFPTV images.

A thick cloud of smoke covers the suburbs, according to the images. These strikes are the most intense since the start of the open war between the Israeli army and Hezbollah for more than two months and come as Israel prepares to discuss a cease-fire.

The Israeli army also announced that it had struck around 30 targets in southern Lebanon on Tuesday. She indicated that she had targeted “the Litani River region”, the geographical limit to the north of which Israel says it wants to repel Hezbollah.

The United States, the European Union and the United Nations are trying to secure a truce between Israel and the powerful Lebanese movement backed 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.

The Israeli 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 have reached the point where we are close” to an agreement, John Kirby, a White House spokesperson, said on Monday, while emphasizing that nothing was yet certain.

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

Israel has “no excuse” to refuse a ceasefire, declared the head of diplomacy of the European Union, Josep Borrell, hoping that the Israeli government would approve the agreement on Tuesday.

The UN has reiterated its call for a “permanent ceasefire” in Lebanon, Israel and Gaza. For the United Kingdom, a ceasefire in Lebanon is “the only possible way to restore security and stability” for the populations.

But Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz warned Tuesday that his country would act “forcefully” if an agreement was violated.

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 implementation, Axios added, 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 according to her allowed Hezbollah to “rearm itself”. Now, she added, “they have tunnels, rockets, every possible ammunition.”

Israel says it wants to neutralize Hezbollah in southern Lebanon to protect its own population. 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.

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 11 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 taking refuge in the Yarmouk camp in the city. from Gaza, in the north.

The winter is going to be “horrible”, warned Louise Wateridge, an emergency manager at the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA). Gaza residents “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 sparked 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, mostly 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 of them civilians, according to data from the Hamas Ministry of Health, deemed reliable by the UN.