Netanyahu Announces Ceasefire With Hezbollah, Recommends Cabinet Approval

Tel Aviv: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday announced ceasefire with Hezbollah in Lebanon. In his address to the nation, the Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu mentioned that he would recommend his cabinet adopt a United States-brokered ceasefire agreement with Hezbollah.

Netanyahu said that the ceasefire agreement means Israel can focus on the Iranian threat, adding they are changing the face of the region. Announcing the ceasefire, Netanyahu though did mention that his country ‘will respond’ if Hezbollah violates truce.

Hezbollah is yet to comment on the development.

Not clear when ceasefire would be effective

In a televised statement, Netanyahu said he would present the ceasefire to Cabinet ministers later on Tuesday, setting the stage for an end to nearly 14 months of fighting.

Netanyahu said the vote was expected later Tuesday. It was not immediately clear when the ceasefire would go into effect, and the exact terms of the deal were not released. The deal does not affect Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza, which shows no signs of ending.

Lebanese officials have said Hezbollah also supports the deal. If approved by all sides, the deal would be a major step toward ending the Israel-Hezbollah war that has inflamed tensions across the region and raised fears of an even wider conflict between Israel and Hezbollah's patron, Iran.

Deals calls for two-month initial halt in fighting against Hezbollah  

The deal calls for a two-month initial halt in fighting and would require Hezbollah to end its armed presence in a broad swath of southern Lebanon, while Israeli troops would return to their side of the border. Thousands of Lebanese troops and U.N. peacekeepers would deploy in the south, and an international panel headed by the United States would monitor all sides’ compliance.

But implementation remains a major question mark. Israel has demanded the right to act should Hezbollah violate its obligations. Lebanese officials have rejected writing that into the proposal.

Israel's Defense Minister Israel Katz insisted on Tuesday that the military would strike Hezbollah if the U.N. peacekeeping force, known as UNIFIL, doesn’t provide “effective enforcement” of the deal.

“If you don’t act, we will act, and with great force,” Katz said, speaking with U.N. special envoy Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert.

The European Union’s top diplomat, Josep Borrell, said Tuesday that Israel’s security concerns had been addressed in the deal also brokered by France.

“There is not an excuse for not implementing a ceasefire. Otherwise, Lebanon will fall apart,” Borrell told reporters in Italy on the sidelines of a Group of Seven meeting. He said France would participate on the ceasefire implementation committee at Lebanon's request.

With inputs from AP