Israeli ceasefire deal with Hezbollah to go before cabinet tonight

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said he will put a ceasefire deal with Hezbollah to his cabinet shortly.

An agreement could bring about an end to fighting that has seen more than 3,500 Lebanese killed and more than 15,000 injured in over a year.

Mr Netanyahu said: “It’s not the same Hezbollah any more. We’ve attacked strategic targets throughout Lebanon. We pushed Hezbollah back decades.

“That is why I will bring before the cabinet tonight a plan for a ceasefire.

“If Hezbollah tries to attack us, we will attack.”

He said there are three main reasons for a ceasefire now: the Iranian threat, “refreshing our forces and rearming our troops”.

Any potential agreement would also reportedly allow hundreds of thousands of people on both sides of the border to gradually return home.

Earlier on Monday, it was suggested Israel was moving towards a ceasefire but there were still outstanding issues.

It comes as Israeli warplanes struck targets across Lebanon, killing at least 23 people.

The Israeli military also issued a flurry of evacuation warnings, suggesting it was aiming to inflict as much damage on Hezbollah before any ceasefire took hold.

Hezbollah in turn kept up its rocket fire, which triggered air raid sirens across northern Israel.

Hezbollah’s new leader Naim Kassem appeared to be open to a ceasefire with Israel during a speech last week.

Fighting began between Hezbollah in Lebanon and Israel broke out the day after the 7 October Hamas attacks last year, and Israel launched a ground invasion earlier this year.

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