10
Loading video...
By Jon Jackson
News Editor
0
Share
Newsweek is a Trust Project member
See more of our trusted coverage when you search.Prefer Newsweek on Googleto see more of our trusted coverage when you search.
Israel's cabinet on Tuesday approved a ceasefire proposal between Israel and Hezbollah after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced he backed the deal.
"If Hezbollah breaks the agreement and tries to rearm, we will attack," Netanyahu said on Tuesday ahead of the cabinet's decision. "For every violation, we will attack with might."
U.S. President Joe Biden discussed the deal during a Tuesday press conference, saying his team worked with Israel and Lebanon to create a truce and that it would go into effect at 4:00 a.m. local time. Netanyahu's office said the ceasefire plan was approved by a 10-1 margin.
Read More on News
"This is designed to be a permanent cessation of hostilities," Biden said. "What is left of Hezbollah and other terrorist organizations will not be allowed to threaten the security of Israel again."
Newsweek reached out to the Israel Consulate General in New York for comment.
...
Israeli strikes on Lebanon kill at least 23
Netanyahu's announcement came as Israeli warplanes attacked Lebanon, killing at least 23 people, and Hezbollah continued with rocket fire into Israel.
Lebanese health officials have reported that more than 3,760 people in Lebanon have been killed by Israel's forces in the past 13 months, while 1.2 million people have been forced to leave their homes.
Attacks by Hezbollah on Israel began on October 8, 2023, a day after Hamas attacked Israel. This ignited a prolonged conflict that evolved into a full-scale war in September, marked by Israel's massive airstrikes and ground operations in southern Lebanon.
In response, Hezbollah has launched thousands of rockets into Israel, including 250 projectiles on Sunday alone. Over recent months, Israel has also targeted and killed key Hezbollah leaders while deploying ground forces into southern Lebanon, intensifying the regional hostilities.
International talk on a potential ceasefire
Earlier on Tuesday, Josep Borrell, the European Union's foreign policy chief, said that Israel has "no excuses" for rejecting a ceasefire agreement with the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.
Speaking at a Group of Seven (G7) meeting in Italy, Borrell warned that without the implementation of a ceasefire, "Lebanon will fall apart," and he called for increased pressure on Israel to counteract hardliners within its government who oppose a proposed ceasefire agreement with Hezbollah.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken also spoke about a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah while he attended the G7 meeting. Speaking to reporters, he said a deal was "in the final stages."
After Netanyahu's announcement about backing a ceasefire proposal, Israeli diplomat Alon Pinkas called thedeal "very fragile."
The former ambassador told Al Jazeera that several of the clauses in the agreement are "un-enforceable," adding "it assumes that the Lebanese army will supervise the manufacturing and the sales and the transfer of weapons in Lebanon, and that's an impossibility."
"We all know that the Lebanese army has always shunned any kind of confrontation with Hezbollah," he said.
Hezbollah's response
A Hezbollah spokesperson told Newsweek on Tuesday that it had only received word of Netanyahu's proposal through the media and was awaiting the final document.
The Hezbollah spokesperson portrayed the developments as a defeat for Israel and affirmed that the group "remained strong in the field and with every that passes we become stronger."
What this ceasefire could mean for Gaza
Meanwhile, the broader implications of a potential ceasefire in Lebanon remain unclear, especially regarding its impact on the parallel conflict in Gaza. There, more than 44,000 people have been killed and over 104,000 wounded in a 13-month war between Israel and Hamas, according to Gaza's Health Ministry.
Follow our live blog for updates on the Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire.
This article includes reporting from The Associated Press.
Update 11/26/24 2:02 p.m. ET: This story has been updated to include more information.
Update 11/26/24 2:14 p.m. ET: This story has been updated to include more information.
Update 11/26/24 2:24 p.m. ET: This story has been updated to include more information.
Update 11/26/24 2:46 p.m. ET: This story has been updated to include more information.
Update 11/26/24 5:02 p.m. ET: This story has been updated to include more information.
View 0 Comments
Submit Correction
View Editorial & AI Guidelines