Middle East conflict: Israeli cabinet to vote on Lebanon ceasefire deal

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is likely to convene a high-level security cabinet meeting in Tel Aviv on Tuesday to approve a 60-day ceasefire deal with Lebanon’s Hezbollah group.

“We don’t know how long it will last,” an Israeli official told The Times of Israel.

“It could be a month, it could be a year,” the official said.

Israel is engaged in a two-way battle against Hamas and Hezbollah.

The conflict escalated after Hamas group members attacked Israel on October 7, 2023.

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

Sources familiar with the negotiations told the American news channel 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.

According to a Reuters news report, US President Joe Biden and French President Emmanuel Macron might announce a ceasefire deal in Lebanon between Israel and Hezbollah.

Speaking on the deal, White House national security spokesperson John Kirby on Monday said during a press briefing: ” We believe we’re close. The conversations that Amos had were very positive.”

“And as I said earlier, we believe the trajectory is going in the right direction here to potentially getting this ceasefire done. But it’s not done,” he said.

“And the last thing that I’m going to do publicly is speak about the details of it and what components are in there so that I don’t in any way sabotage the efforts to actually complete it,” Kirby said.

Meanwhile, the United Nations remains concerned by the escalation of hostilities in Lebanon between Hezbollah and the Israel Defense Force (IDF), as well as the widespread destruction and death across the Blue Line, the Secretary-General’s Spokesperson, Stéphane Dujarric, said on Monday.

The UN Interim Force Lebanon (UNIFIL) is also seriously concerned by numerous strikes on the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) despite their declared non-involvement in the hostilities, he added.

The LAF have reported that at least 45 soldiers have been killed in recent attacks.