JERUSALEM/BEIRUT
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has announced he’s agreed to a ceasefire with Hezbollah in Lebanon, but adds the deal has been sent to the cabinet for approval as heavy bombing continues and casualties rise.
Israel has agreed a ceasefire with Lebanon, Israel's Channel 12 television reported on Tuesday, clearing the way for an end to a conflict between Israel and Lebanon's Hezbollah that has killed thousands of people since it was ignited by the Gaza war last year.
The accord was expected to take effect on Wednesday. The Channel 12 report followed a meeting of Israel's security cabinet under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu convened to discuss a ceasefire deal.
Israeli approval of the deal would pave the way for a ceasefire declaration by US President Joe Biden and French President Emmanuel Macron, according to four senior Lebanese sources who spoke to Reuters on Monday.
Despite the diplomatic breakthrough, hostilities raged as Israel dramatically ramped up its campaign of air strikes in Beirut and other parts of Lebanon.
However, there was no indication that a truce in Lebanon would hasten a ceasefire and hostage-release deal in devastated Gaza, where Israel is battling Palestinian militant group Hamas.
The Lebanon ceasefire agreement requires Israeli troops to withdraw from south Lebanon and Lebanon's army to deploy in the region, officials say. Hezbollah would end its armed presence along the border south of the Litani River.
Lebanese Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib said the Lebanese army would be ready to have at least 5,000 troops deployed in southern Lebanon as Israeli troops withdraw, and that the United States could play a role in rebuilding infrastructure destroyed by Israeli strikes.
