Israel set to okay 60-day Lebanon truce Tuesday, but pledges to act against Hezbollah
Threat of US action at UN played into Jerusalem’s decision-making, says official, asserting that, even if reluctantly, ministers will get in line behind cessation of hostilities
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu convenes the Security Cabinet at Defense Headquarters in Tel Aviv, July 28, 2024
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will convene the high-level security cabinet in Tel Aviv on Tuesday evening to approve a 60-day ceasefire with the Hezbollah terror group in Lebanon after more than a year of war, an Israeli official told The Times of Israel on Monday.
At the same time, the official stressed that Israel was accepting a cessation of hostilities, not an end to the war on Hezbollah.
“We don’t know how long it will last,” the official said of the ceasefire. “It could be a month, it could be a year.”
Since October 8, 2023, Hezbollah-led forces have attacked Israeli communities and military posts along the border on a near-daily basis, with the group saying it is doing so to support Gaza amid the war there.
Some 60,000 residents were evacuated from northern towns on the Lebanon border shortly after Hamas’s October 7 onslaught, in light of fears that Hezbollah would carry out a similar attack, and due to increasing rocket fire by the terror group. Israel has been trying to enable the residents’ return, including through an ongoing ground operation.
Israel’s freedom to act in Lebanon after the ceasefire is guaranteed by a letter between it and the US, said the official. The Israel Defense Forces will be able to operate not only against those trying to attack Israel, but also against Hezbollah’s attempts to build up its military power.
“We will act,” the official promised.
Israel decided it had no choice but to accept a ceasefire, out of a fear that US President Joe Biden’s administration could punish Israel with a United Nations Security Council resolution in its final weeks, explained the official.
Israel is also missing capabilities it needs from the US, including 134 D9 bulldozers, said the official.
Meanwhile, a Lebanese official said that Beirut had been told by Washington that an accord could be announced “within hours.”
Israeli officials said earlier that a deal to end the war was getting closer, though some issues remained, while two senior Lebanese officials voiced guarded optimism, even as Israeli strikes pounded Lebanon.
According to Channel 12 news, “something drastic” would have to happen for the ceasefire to fall apart before Tuesday’s meeting.
Netanyahu will hold a smaller meeting of close aides on Tuesday morning, including Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer and Defense Minister Israel Katz, the outlet reported.
Lebanon’s deputy speaker of parliament Elias Bou Saab said on Monday that there are “no serious obstacles” left to beginning the implementation of the US-proposed truce.
He said one sticking point on who will monitor the ceasefire was resolved in the last 24 hours by agreeing to set up a five-country committee, including France, and chaired by the United States.
Israel has been insisting that France not be part of the agreement or be a member of the international committee that will monitor a deal’s implementation, due to its perceived hostility toward Israel in recent months, under President Emanuel Macron. Macron recently repeatedly called for an arms embargo on Israel, characterizing it as the path toward ending the war, sparking a diplomatic crisis.
Once France indicated on Friday that it would not be committing to the arrest of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in the wake of arrest warrants issued against him by the International Criminal Court — only that it “takes note” of the decision — Israel was willing to accept French involvement.
Despite the moves toward a halt to the fighting, both Israel and Hezbollah continued mutual exchanges of fire on Monday.
The IDF Home Front Command issued new restrictions in several areas of northern Israel on Monday evening, given fears that Hezbollah would ramp up rocket attacks before the ceasefire comes into effect.
If the efforts to achieve a ceasefire collapse, said Channel 12, the IDF has plans for an expansion of its operation in Lebanon.
Earlier Monday, National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir told Netanyahu to reject the proposal for a ceasefire, calling it “a grave mistake,” though, unlike in the past, he did not threaten to bring down the government if it were approved.
In a post on X, the ultranationalist Otzma Yehudit party leader warned that accepting the ceasefire deal would mean missing out on a “historic” opportunity to destroy the Iran-backed terror group.
He urged Netanyahu to “listen to the commanders fighting in the field… precisely now, when Hezbollah is beaten and longs for a ceasefire, it is forbidden to stop.”
Ben Gvir has been categorically opposed to any deal that would see a cessation of hostilities, even temporarily, in both Gaza and Lebanon, and has threatened more than once to pull his party from the coalition in the event that Israel signs a truce agreement.
The ceasefire would ultimately be approved, said the Israeli official speaking to The Times of Israel: “There are ministers who speak to their base, and we take it into consideration. But Ben Gvir understands the importance. It’s in Israel’s interest.”
The official also argued that a ceasefire would help reach a successful end to the war in Gaza against Hamas.
“What Hamas wanted was support from Hezbollah and others. Once you cut the connection, you have the ability to reach a deal. It’s a strategic achievement,” said the official. “Hamas is alone.”
Some 1,200 people were killed and 251 were seized as hostages on October 7 last year, when thousands of Hamas-led terrorists poured through the Gaza border into Israel and rampaged through dozens of southern communities.
Israel’s subsequent ongoing military campaign is formally aimed at destroying Hamas’s governance and military capabilities in Gaza, returning the hostages, and safely returning the tens of thousands of displaced Israelis to their homes in the north and near the Gaza border.
Israel stepped up its offensive on Hezbollah in Lebanon in late September, launching extensive strikes and operations that took out most of the group’s leadership, including its longtime leader Hassan Nasrallah.
Israel then launched a ground operation in southern Lebanon with the aim of clearing Hezbollah strongholds in the area and making it safe for evacuated residents of northern Israel to return to their homes.
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