Israeli Ministers Plan to Vote on Truce With Hezbollah
The New York Times
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was expected to present a deal mediated by U.S. and French diplomats to end the fighting. The Israeli military kept up the pressure with a strike in Beirut and evacuation warnings.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel was expected to meet on Tuesday afternoon with senior cabinet ministers to decide whether to approve a cease-fire with Hezbollah, potentially setting the stage for an end to Israel’s 13-month war with the Lebanese militia.
The meeting was scheduled for 4 p.m. local time at the Israeli military headquarters in Tel Aviv and was expected to be an hourslong discussion of a proposed cease-fire agreement, according to two Israeli officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the discussions.
Ahead of the meeting, Israel kept up the pressure with a show of force in Lebanon. The Israeli military struck once again in the heart of Beirut and issued a flurry of evacuation warnings for the city’s southern outskirts, a Hezbollah stronghold. The Israeli military also told entire towns in southern Lebanon to evacuate, including Naqoura, where a United Nations peacekeeping force is based.
The cease-fire proposal, mediated by American and French diplomats, would start a 60-day process during which both sides would stop fighting and withdraw from southern Lebanon. Israeli forces would return south of the Israel-Lebanon border, while Hezbollah would retreat north of the Litani River, allowing the Lebanese Army — which is not a party to the Israel-Hezbollah conflict — to fill the vacuum.
But many questions about the proposal remain unanswered, including how the Lebanese Army would exert authority over the powerful militia. Israel has sought guarantees from the United States that it would have U.S. support to send troops back into southern Lebanon if Hezbollah violated the arrangement.
Mr. Netanyahu is said to favor a deal, but some of his ministers, including far-right leaders who hold the balance of power in his coalition, have expressed strong reservations.
