Netanyahu addresses Israelis on Lebanon ceasefire agreement
Netanyahu is speaking on Israeli television following an hours-long meeting with his security cabinet that discussed the ceasefire deal. The agreement would end Hezbollah’s armed presence along the border south of the Litani River and require Israeli troops to withdraw from southern Lebanon.
The Lebanese army would then need to deploy in the region – also a Hezbollah stronghold – within 60 days, officials said.
Netanyahu pledges to return families in northern Israel to their homes
In his remarks, he said Hezbollah is no longer the same group “that launched a war against us”, saying Israeli forces set them back decades. He said Israeli forces killed most of the group’s leadership and “destroyed their infrastructure”.
Netanyahu also pledged to return families in northern Israel to their homes – a main war objective. “We were able to achieve many of our goals during this war,” he said.
Netanyahu says ceasefire deal will be presented to cabinet for approval
Netanyahu says he will bring the full cabinet an outline of the ceasefire deal with Lebanon’s Hezbollah for approval. An agreement means Israel can focus on the “Iranian threat”, adding, “we are changing the face of the region.”
Netanyahu pledged Israel “will respond” if Hezbollah violates the truce.
Lebanon PM demands ‘immediate’ implementation of ceasefire
Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati says the international community must “act swiftly” to halt Israeli aggression “and implement an immediate ceasefire”.
His comments came after Netanyahu said in an address that Israel’s security cabinet would agree “this evening” on a truce in its war against the Lebanese group Hezbollah.
Ceasefire with Hezbollah seems weak and ‘very difficult to maintain’
Alon Pinkas, a former ambassador and consul-general from Israel, says the ceasefire announcement by Netanyahu seems “very fragile” because it looks “very difficult to maintain and sustain in the long run”.
Pinkas told Al Jazeera the clauses in the agreement are “unenforceable”.
“It assumes the Lebanese army will supervise the manufacturing and the sales and transfer of weapons in Lebanon – and that’s an impossibility,” he said. “We all know that the Lebanese army has always shunned any kind of confrontation with Hezbollah.”
According to Pinkas, opposition from the Israeli centre-left and the Israeli right is mounting. While some say it’s Israel’s assault on Gaza that should have ended with the return of the captives, others view the deal with Lebanon as a surrender.
