Live Updates: Netanyahu Urges Cabinet to Approve Cease-Fire With Hezbollah
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu put his weight behind a deal mediated by U.S. and French diplomats to end the fighting. The Israeli military kept up the pressure with heavy strikes in and around Beirut.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday night put his weight behind a proposed cease-fire deal, mediated by U.S. and French diplomats, that would suspend fighting between Israel and the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah after more than a year of conflict.
“The length of the cease-fire will depend on what happens in Lebanon,” Mr. Netanyahu said in a televised address. “With the full understanding of the United States, we are preserving full military freedom of action — if Hezbollah breaks the agreement and seeks to arm itself, we will attack.”
Mr. Netanyahu urged Israeli ministers to accept the deal, saying there were three main reasons to support it. A cease-fire, he said, would allow Israel to focus on Iran, which backs Hezbollah and Hamas; give the Israeli military an opportunity torebuild its stockpiles; and isolate Hamas, the group Israel has been fighting in the Gaza Strip since it led the attacks of Oct. 7, 2023.
Lebanon’s government, which does not control Hezbollah but whose approval is also essential for the deal to move forward, was set to meet on Wednesday morning to discuss the cease-fire agreement.
In Israel, momentum for a cease-fire in Lebanon has been building throughout Tuesday, following months of U.S. efforts to broker a deal. In the morning, the Israeli press was filled with reports about an impending cease-fire. In the early evening, Mr. Netanyahu convened his security cabinet to discuss the proposed cease-fire.
Shortly thereafter, he made the case for a cease-fire to the Israeli public, arguing it would enable Israel to focus on Iranian threats, isolate Hamas, and replenish stockpiles.
The prime minister’s announcement came after Israeli forces launched a withering barrage of strikes in Lebanon on Tuesday, hitting the heart of Beirut and Hezbollah-dominated neighborhoods south of the city.
The Israeli military also told entire towns in southern Lebanon to evacuate, including Naqoura, where a U.N. peacekeeping force is based. The intense flurry of strikes came even as Mr. Netanyahu signaled he was open to ending Israel’s 13-month war with Hezbollah.
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 combatant in 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.
Hezbollah’s leader, Naim Qassem, suggested last week that the group would accept a truce if Israel stopped striking Lebanon and Lebanon retained its sovereignty.
The conflict began in October 2023 after Hezbollah, which dominates large parts of southern Lebanon, began firing at Israeli military positions in solidarity with its ally Hamas, which had just raided southern Israel. Israel returned fire, and the conflict gradually escalated into a war that displaced tens of thousands on both sides of the border.
Fighting intensified over the summer as Israel scaled up its strikes, attacking neighborhoods south of Beirut that are dominated by Hezbollah and killing thousands — among them scores of Hezbollah commanders, including the group’s longtime leader, Hassan Nasrallah. On Sept. 30, Israeli troops crossed the border in a full-scale ground invasion, later capturing and decimating several villages.
Here’s what else to know:
More strikes: On Tuesday, the Israeli military pounded central Beirut and its surrounding area with some of the most intense bombardment of the war. The airstrikes struck in Beirut after a series of evacuation warnings for the center of the city, the first for the area during the war.
The agreement: The cease-fire would officially be among Israel, Lebanon and the mediating countries, including the United States. A top Lebanese lawmaker has been acting as a liaison with Hezbollah, which the country’s government does not control, and Hezbollah would not technically be a party to the deal. The United States designates Hezbollah a terrorist organization.
Jack Nicas and Myra Noveck contributed reporting from Jerusalem, and Euan Ward from Beirut.
Itamar Ben-Gvir, the hard-line national security minister, called the proposed cease-fire deal with Lebanon a mistake on social media. Without a “security zone” inside Lebanon to ward off Hezbollah, the situation would ultimately lead to another war with the Lebanese armed group sometime in the future, he said.
Eli Rachevski, who lives in a northern Israeli community that has seen near daily air-raid sirens for months, said the news of a potential cease-fire evoked mixed feelings. While hopeful for an end to the chaos, Rachevski, a resident of Sa’ar, said he was skeptical that Israel would actually immediately attack should Hezbollah violate the truce.
“Our enforcement should be substantial — no patience and no letting things slide,” he said. He added that making the tens of thousands of displaced Israelis feel safe enough to return to their homes in the north would take a long time.
Netanyahu’s televised address in support of the cease-fire proposal on the table with Lebanon appeared to be aimed primarily at rebuffing right-wing criticism of the deal in Israel. The prime minister vowed that Israel would attack immediately should Hezbollah violate the deal — including by arming itself, rather than directly firing at Israel
Netanyahu noticeably did not give any details of the cease-fire to the Israeli public, which has mostly learned of the contours of the truce from leaks to the news media.
U.N. spokesman Farhan Haq said the U.N.’s peacekeeping forces in southern Lebanon, known as UNIFIL, and the U.N.’s special coordinator for Lebanon “stand ready to enforce" a cease-fire. He added that the U.N. was “seriously concerned” about the heavy Israeli bombardment campaign currently unfolding in Lebanon.
Prime Minister Netanyahu said there were three reasons for a cease-fire in Lebanon: It would allow Israel to focus on Iran; give Israel’s military an opportunity to rebuild its stockpiles; and isolate Hamas, which Israel is fighting in the Gaza Strip.
Netanyahu vowed that Israel would not be lulled by a truce into allowing Hezbollah to violate the truce by firing rockets or building military fortifications along Israel’s border. “We will respond mightily to any breach,” he said.
In televised remarks, Prime Minister Netanyahu said he was bringing an “outline for a cease-fire in Lebanon” for approval by the Israeli cabinet tonight. “The length of the cease-fire will depend on what happens in Lebanon,” said Netanyahu. “With the full understanding of the United States, we are preserving full military freedom of action — if Hezbollah breaks the agreement and seeks to arm itself, we will attack.”
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CreditCredit...Israel Government Press Office via Associated Press
Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, is addressing the Israeli public as government ministers meet to discuss a cease-fire with Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Smoke rises over a building after a strike in central Beirut, Lebanon, on Tuesday.Credit...Daniel Berehulak/The New York Times
The Israeli military pounded central Beirut and its surrounding area with some of the most intense bombardment of the war on Tuesday, sending people fleeing the Lebanese capital in panic.
The airstrikes struck in the heart of Beirut after a series of evacuation warnings, the first for the area during the war. Barely minutes later, the airstrikes began, leaving no time for people to evacuate. The areas targeted by the warnings included an upscale neighborhood on Beirut’s seafront, home to the American University of Beirut. The streets soon clogged with traffic as people attempted to get out.
The intensified bombings came as Israeli officials prepared to meet to discuss a possible cease-fire with Hezbollah. The final days of the 2006 Lebanon war, the last major conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, featured some of the most intense Israeli bombardments of that war.
Lebanon’s health ministry said that at least 10 people were killed and dozens of others injured in the strikes. Many were presumed to be still trapped under rubble, with rescuers working into the night as Israeli surveillance drones whirred overhead.
The Israeli military also carried out some of its most intense bombardment yet on the Dahiya, the southern outskirts of Beirut where Hezbollah holds sway. Unlike Beirut, the once-bustling area has been left almost entirely empty in recent weeks as a result of Israel’s bombing campaign.
The simultaneous wave of strikes in the Dahiya and central Beirut sounded for miles, rattling windows and sending people running for cover.
Southern Lebanon, where Israel is involved in a ground offensive, also experienced heavy strikes throughout the day that killed at least eight people, including children, according to Lebanon’s Health Ministry.
Some of Israel’s bombing campaign on Tuesday targeted Al-Qard Al-Hasan, a financial institution tied to Hezbollah, in what appeared to be an attempt to destroy Hezbollah’s financial capabilities in what could be the final days of the war.
The de facto bank, which is sanctioned by the United States, had previously been targeted last month in a wave of Israeli strikes across Lebanon.
“We’re in the final stages of securing a cease-fire agreement for Lebanon,” Antony J. Blinken, the U.S. secretary of state, said in a briefing with reporters in Italy on Tuesday at the G7 meeting there. “We’re not there yet,” he noted but said he hoped a conclusion would be reached “very soon.”
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If we get to the conclusion that I hope we reach very soon, it will make a big difference. It will make a big difference in saving lives and livelihoods in Lebanon and in Israel. It will make a big difference in creating the conditions that will allow people to return to their homes safely in Northern Israel and in Southern Lebanon. And I also believe that by de-escalating tensions in the region, it can also help us to end the conflict in Gaza. In particular, Hamas will know that it can’t count on other fronts opening up in the war.
Blinken said that a truce between Israel and the militant group Hezbollah “will make a big difference in saving lives and livelihoods” in Israel and Lebanon, and that deescalating tensions in the region could also help end the conflict in Gaza between Hamas and Israel. “In particular, Hamas will know that it can’t count on other fronts opening up in the war,” Blinken said.
Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon continued to trade fire as night fell in both countries. The Israeli military said it had struck 180 targets in Lebanon over the past day. Meanwhile, air-raid sirens rang out — warning of incoming rockets and drone attacks — across northern Israel.
The Israeli military issued evacuation warnings for four areas in central Beirut, and just minutes later, the airstrikes began. People would have had no time to evacuate. These were the first such warnings for the city center during this war, although Israel has carried out strikes there.
The final days of the 2006 Lebanon war, the last major conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, featured some of the most intense Israeli bombardments of the war. That pattern may be repeating itself today as Israel’s leaders discuss a cease-fire.
Heavy airstrikes have also been reported in southern Lebanon, including in the town of Naqoura where UNIFIL, the U.N. peacekeeping mission, is based. A UNIFIL spokesman, Andrea Tenenti, said the troops there had no plans to leave, and were sheltering in bunkers at the base.
The Israeli military said it had again struck branches of Al-Qard Al-Hasan, a financial institution tied to Hezbollah, during its intensified bombardment of Beirut’s southern outskirts. The de facto bank was targeted last month in a wave of Israeli strikes across Lebanon.
The military followed up by saying it would target additional branches of Al-Qard Al-Hasan, including one in the southern Lebanese city of Sidon that was spared last month. This appears to be an attempt to destroy Hezbollah’s financial capabilities in what could be the final days of the war.
An Israeli airstrike on central Beirut has killed at least three people and injured 26 others, according to Lebanon’s Health Ministry. After that deafening explosion, Israel released a series of evacuation warnings for the city’s southern outskirts, and then started some of the heaviest bombardment of the war.
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