Israeli warplanes hit Beirut’s southern suburbs with a wave of airstrikes on Tuesday just before Israel’s cabinet met to discuss a ceasefire deal with its Hezbollah foes.
A senior Israeli official and Lebanese Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib appeared optimistic a deal could be reached, clearing the way for an end to a conflict that has killed thousands of people since it was ignited by the Gaza war last year.
Despite the possibility of an imminent diplomatic breakthrough, hostilities raged on Tuesday.
Israeli strikes smashed more of Beirut’s densely populated southern suburbs, a Hezbollah stronghold, with the Israeli military saying one barrage of strikes had hit 20 targets in the city in just 120 seconds. Israel had issued its biggest evacuation warning yet, telling civilians to leave 20 locations.
Israeli military spokesperson Avichay Adraee said the air force was conducting a “widespread attack” on Hezbollah targets across the city.
The Iran-backed Hezbollah has kept up rocket fire into Israel.
The UN rights chief voiced concern about the escalation of hostilities in Lebanon, where his office said nearly 100 people had been reported killed by Israeli airstrikes in recent days, including women, children and medics.
Israel’s security cabinet under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was due to start meeting at 9 a.m. ET for up to three hours to discuss the ceasefire deal, which a senior Israeli official said was likely to be approved.
This would pave the way for a ceasefire declaration by U.S. President Joe Biden and French President Emmanuel Macron, four senior Lebanese sources told Reuters on Monday.
No indication truce in Lebanon would secure Gaza ceasefire
At a conference in Rome, Bou Habib expressed hope that a deal could be sealed by Tuesday night.
However, there was no indication that a truce in Lebanon would hasten a ceasefire and hostage-release deal in devastated Gaza, where Israel is battling Palestinian militant group Hamas.
The agreement requires Israeli troops to withdraw from south Lebanon and Lebanon’s army to deploy in the region — a Hezbollah stronghold — within 60 days, officials say. Hezbollah would end its armed presence along the border south of the Litani River.
After months of escalating violence, a ceasefire deal in Lebanon between Israel and Hezbollah is reportedly ‘very close.’ Israel’s war cabinet is believed to be preparing to vote on the terms of the deal.
Bou Habib said the Lebanese army would be ready to have at least 5,000 troops deployed in southern Lebanon as Israeli troops withdraw, and that the U.S. could play a role in rebuilding infrastructure destroyed by Israeli strikes.
Israel demands effective UN enforcement of an eventual ceasefire with Lebanon and will show “zero tolerance” toward any infraction, Defence Minister Israel Katz said on Tuesday.
The agreement with Lebanon will maintain Israel’s freedom of operation there to act in defence to remove threats posed by Iran-backed Hezbollah and enable displaced residents to return safely to their homes in northern Israel, Israeli government spokesperson David Mencer told Reuters.
Israel has dealt Hezbollah massive blows since going on the offensive against the group in September, killing leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah and other top commanders, and pounding areas of Lebanon where the group holds sway.
“Regarding the ceasefire, I think it will be implemented. Both sides are tired,” said Selim Ayoub, a 37-year-old mechanic from Beirut’s southern suburbs.
Israel can strike southern Lebanon under any deal: ambassador
Hezbollah launched some 250 rockets on Sunday in one of its heaviest barrages yet. The northern Israeli city of Nahariya came under more rocket fire overnight.
Diplomacy to end the fighting has focused on restoring a ceasefire based on UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which ended the last major war between Hezbollah and Israel in 2006.
Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Danon, said on Monday that Israel would maintain an ability to strike southern Lebanon under any agreement.
Lebanon has previously objected to Israel being granted such a right, and Lebanese officials have said such language is not included in the draft proposal.
Two Israeli officials told Reuters that Israel has a side agreement with the U.S. allowing it to take action in Lebanon against “imminent threats.”
Hezbollah, seen as a terrorist group by Washington, has endorsed its ally Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri to negotiate.
More than 3,750 killed in strikes on Lebanon
Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Sharren Haskel said that while there were other missions Israel could undertake in Lebanon to dismantle Hezbollah, it preferred a diplomatic solution if possible.
Over the past year, more than 3,750 people have been killed in Lebanon and over one million have been forced from their homes, according to Lebanon’s Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its figures.
The widespread destruction left by Israeli airstrikes has brought into focus a huge reconstruction bill awaiting cash-strapped Lebanon, with many left homeless heading into winter.
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Hezbollah strikes have killed 45 civilians in northern Israel and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. At least 73 Israeli soldiers have been killed in northern Israel, the Golan Heights and in combat in southern Lebanon, according to Israeli authorities.
A ceasefire would pave the way for 60,000 people to return to homes in northern Israel, which they evacuated as Hezbollah began firing rockets in support of its Palestinian ally Hamas a day after that group’s Oct. 7, 2023, assault on Israel.
Israel says it aims at military targets in Lebanon and Gaza and takes steps to mitigate the risk of harm to civilians. It accuses Hezbollah, like Hamas in Gaza, of hiding among civilians, which they deny.