The Israel Cabinet is set to vote on a ceasefire deal with Lebanon on Tuesday after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly gave his “in principle” approval to the plan after a security consultation with Israeli officials.
Here are 10 points on Israel-Lebanon ceasefire talks:
- The Israeli officials will meet on Tuesday evening to decide on the ceasefire deal as the United States, European Union, and United Nations have been pushing in recent days for a truce in the long-running hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah.
- Benny Gantz, who had resigned from Israel’s war cabinet in June over Netanyahu’s handling of the war in Gaza, has called on the Prime Minister to make the details of the ceasefire public. “Netanyahu, present the agreement. It is the right of the residents of the north, the fighters, and the citizens of Israel to know,” he wrote in a post on X.
- The deal that would end the fighting calls for an initial two-month ceasefire during which Israeli forces would withdraw from Lebanon, and Hezbollah would end its armed presence south of the Litani River – over 28 kilometers from the border with Israel, The Israel Times reported.
- Reportedly, the Israeli forces would also withdraw from southern Lebanon after the ceasefire deal.
- The US, which has repeatedly voiced for a truce in the Gaza war, expressed optimism over the prospects of a ceasefire. “We believe we’ve reached this point where we’re close to a ceasefire,” US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said.
- Earlier this month, Qatar – which was a key part of the ceasefire negations in the Israel-Hamas war, withdrew as a mediator. It also warned Hamas that its Doha office “no longer serves its purpose”.
- Amid the talks for a ceasefire, Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, on Monday, said that a war crimes case against Netanyahu was insufficient and that he deserved a “death sentence”. This comes after the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant for Netanyahu last week.
- Israel and Lebanon have been engaged in a prolonged conflict that began on October 7 last year after Hezbollah attacked Israeli-controlled territory in solidarity with Hamas and Palestinians in Gaza. This sparked a series of tit-for-tat border attacks between Israel and Lebanon.
- Heavy exchange of fire is continuing between Israel and Hezbollah as Lebanese media reported intense fighting in the border area. On Sunday, Iran-backed Hezbollah fired about 250 rockets and other projectiles into Israel in one of the group’s heaviest barrages in months. The latest Israeli strikes also hit around two dozen Hezbollah targets across Lebanon.
- According to Lebanon’s health ministry, over 3,700 people have been killed in the strikes since October last year.
