Benjamin Netanyahu, the Prime Minister of Israel, has announced plans to agree to a ceasefire with the pro-Iranian militant group Hezbollah in Lebanon.
According to local time reports by AFP, Reuters, and Israeli media Haaretz on the 26th, Prime Minister Netanyahu mentioned in an evening video speech following a security cabinet meeting that “The ceasefire in Lebanon aims to focus on the threat from Iran and isolate Hamas.”
Netanyahu further stated, “If Hezbollah breaks the agreement, we will attack them,” adding that “(even after the ceasefire) we will maintain full freedom of action in Lebanon.”
He emphasized that “Our mission is to regress Hezbollah to decades ago, bring northern residents back to their homes, and return the hostages still held in Gaza.”
Netanyahu explained that the cabinet would give final approval to the ceasefire outline that evening and mentioned that the duration of the ceasefire depends on how the situation develops.
If Lebanon, representing Hezbollah, finalizes the agreement, it would halt hostilities 13 months after Israel was attacked by the Palestinian militant group Hamas last October and began skirmishes with Hezbollah.
Counting from the declaration of the “Northern Arrow” operation aimed at Hezbollah by the Israeli military last September and the commencement of the first ground war in 18 years in southern Lebanon, it’s been approximately two months.
The U.S.-proposed ceasefire plan reportedly includes a 60-day temporary ceasefire during which Israeli forces would withdraw from southern Lebanon while Hezbollah’s heavy weapons would be relocated north of the Litani River, about 30 km from the Israeli border in Lebanon.
Thousands of Lebanese troops would be additionally deployed in the Lebanese-Israeli “Blue Line” border region set by the UN to prevent further clashes, alongside the UNIFIL, the UN peacekeeping force stationed in Lebanon.
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz, meeting with UN Special Coordinator for Lebanon Yaenne Hennis-Plasschaert, who visited Tel Aviv, warned that a breach of the ceasefire agreement would result in a zero-tolerance response, adding, “If the UN does not act, we will take firm action.”