Israel’s Cabinet will vote on a ceasefire proposal with Hezbollah on Tuesday, possibly ending the conflict that has gone on for over 13 months.
“We haven’t finalized it, but we are moving forward,” Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon said on Monday, while a spokesperson for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the proposal is expected to pass, according to CNN.
The deal, as it has been laid out previously, would lead to a 60-day transition period in which Israeli forces would withdraw from southern Lebanon while Lebanon’s army would move into the area, and Hezbollah would move its heavy weapons north of the Litani River. In doing so, there would be a buffer of nearly 20 miles between Hezbollah and Israel’s border.
“We have clearly made significant progress. However, we’re not there yet,” a U.S. National Security Council spokesperson told the Washington Examiner on Monday. “We continue to work to reach a diplomatic resolution to allow civilians on both sides of the Blue Line to be able to safely return to their homes.”
Israel and Hezbollah have exchanged near-daily cross-border attacks, which Hezbollah initiated following Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attack that changed Israel’s war posture. Israel initially declared war on Hamas and conducted a ground invasion into the Gaza Strip, which is ongoing, though it ramped up its attacks on Hezbollah in September.
Itamar Ben-Gvir, an Israeli politician who is a member of Netanyahu’s governing coalition, said an agreement with Lebanon would be “a huge mistake” and “a historic missed opportunity to eradicate Hezbollah.”
U.S. envoy Amos Hochstein said in Beirut last week that a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hezbollah was “within our grasp” but that it’s “the decision of the parties.”
Israel’s forces have killed several of Hezbollah’s senior leadership ranks, including Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah, but their operations have not been enough to stop Hezbollah from carrying out retaliatory attacks.
The death toll has increased significantly in Lebanon over the last couple of months. About 3,500 people have been killed and more than 15,000 have been injured in Lebanon, according to Axios. A ceasefire deal would allow for the tens of thousands of civilians on both sides of the Israel-Lebanon border to return to their homes after the war forced their displacement.
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Hezbollah was supposed to move north of the Litani River following the United Nations Security Council’s passing of Resolution 1701, which ended their last conflict in 2006. The details of the resolution, on the part of Hezbollah, were never implemented.
U.S. officials have said they want to see the rules of the resolution implemented this time around, nearly 20 years later.