Lebanon ceasefire announcement expected 'within 24 hours'

Hind Al Soulia - Riyadh - TEL AVIV — The Israeli cabinet will vote on a ceasefire deal in Lebanon on Tuesday, Benjamin Netanyahu’s spokesperson told CNN, after a source familiar with the matter said the Israeli prime minister had approved the plan “in principle.”

Netanyahu signaled his potential approval for the emerging ceasefire with Hezbollah during a security consultation with Israeli officials Sunday night, the source said.

On Monday, his spokesperson told CNN the Israeli cabinet will vote on the proposed deal on Tuesday and said it is expected to pass.

Sources familiar with the negotiations said earlier that talks appear to be moving positively toward an agreement, but acknowledged that as Israel and Hezbollah continue to trade fire, one misstep could upend the talks.

But later Monday evening, a Lebanese official familiar with the discussions said a ceasefire is expected to be announced “within 24 hours.”

Reports that a deal was nearing were met with a mixed response in Israel. Itamar Ben Gvir, the country’s far-right National Security Minister, called the deal a “big mistake” and said it would be “a historic missed opportunity to eradicate Hezbollah.” Ben Gvir has also long worked to thwart potential ceasefire deals between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.

Benny Gantz, who resigned from Israel’s war cabinet in June over Netanyahu’s handling of the war in Gaza, called on the prime minister to make the details of the ceasefire deal public.

“It is the right of the residents of the north, the fighters and the citizens of Israel to know,” Gantz said.

Residents of northern Israel – many of whom have been displaced by the conflict, along with residents of southern Lebanon across the border – have also expressed concern about the potential deal.

Nizan Zeevi, who lives north of Kyriat Shimona in Kfar Kila village, told CNN many residents view the deal as a “surrender agreement.”

“Our government is going to sign a very irresponsible agreement that is only a replay of the same agreement” signed to end the war in 2006, Zeevi said. He said he feared the deal would in time allow fighters in the Radwan Force, Hezbollah’s special operation unit, to move closer to the border once more and “live right next to” him and his family.

“It’s my duty to my children to make sure that there is no chance for another October 7,” he said, referring to the Hamas attacks on southern Israel more than a year ago.

United States envoy Amos Hochstein said in Beirut last week that a ceasefire deal between Israel and Lebanon was “within our grasp,” but that it was ultimately “the decision of the parties.”

He met Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati and parliament speaker Nabih Berri, the interlocutor with Hezbollah in the talks and said there had been “constructive” and “very good discussions to narrow the gaps.”

“We have a real opportunity to bring conflict to an end,” he added last week. “The window is now.” He departed Lebanon for Israel on Wednesday to try to bring the negotiations “to a close.”

The US-backed proposal aims to achieve a 60-day cessation of hostilities that some hope could form the basis of a lasting ceasefire.

Later Monday, White House national security spokesperson John Kirby said that Hochstein’s discussions had been “constructive.” He said the Biden administration believes “the trajectory of this is going in a very positive direction,” but cautioned “nothing is done until everything is done.”

State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller was similarly cautious, telling reporters Monday that just because an agreement is “close” does not mean it will happen. He said the process had been “incredibly frustrating.”

Israel’s Home Front Command also warned of a heightened risk of Hezbollah rocket fire before Tuesday’s crucial vote, and on Monday updated its defensive guidelines for several parts of northern Israel.

On Sunday, CNN analyst and Axios reporter Barak Ravid cited a source as saying Hochstein had told the Israeli ambassador to Washington on Saturday that if Israel did not respond positively in the coming days to the ceasefire proposal, he would withdraw from the mediation efforts.

Hochstein’s trip to the region followed Beirut responding “positively” to a US-backed proposal to stop the war, Mikati said last week, adding that large parts of the draft agreement were resolved.

Israel launched a major military offensive in Lebanon in mid-September following months of tit-for-tat border attacks which started on October 8 last year when Hezbollah attacked Israeli controlled territory in solidarity with Hamas and Palestinians in Gaza.

Since then, Israel has launched a ground invasion, killed a string of Hezbollah leaders – including one of its founders, Hassan Nasrallah – and injured thousands of people in an attack featuring exploding pagers. — CNN