Israel approves two-month ceasefire with Hezbollah

The Israeli government approved this Tuesday (26) a ceasefire estimated to last at least two months with the Lebanese group Hezbollah. The agreement, mediated by the United States and France, had already been approved last Monday (18) by the Islamic group and the Lebanese government.

“We are ready to return our citizens [deslocados pela guerra] to the north,” said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a televised address. He promised to return to the attack if Hezbollah violates it. “We will react.”

The announcement was made hours after Jewish state forces carried out large-scale attacks against Lebanese organization targets in Beirut. In Beirut, the Israeli army ordered the civil evacuation of 20 areas. It is the biggest evacuation in the conflict so far.

“Hezbollah is no longer the same, Israel pushed it back decades. We destroyed most of the rockets and missiles. We have killed thousands of terrorists and destroyed underground and terrorist infrastructure near our borders. This all seemed like science fiction months ago, but we did it,” said the premier, adding that he is “determined” to keep Israeli soldiers alive.

“Therefore, tonight, I will present to the cabinet a plan for a ceasefire in Lebanon,” he said.

In presenting his three reasons for considering that this is the right time for the agreement, Netanyahu concluded that by decoupling the northern and southern fronts of the conflict and isolating the Hamas terrorist group in Gaza, Israeli forces can put military pressure on Hamas in the coming months. .

“With Hezbollah out of the picture, Hamas is left alone in the campaign. Our pressure will increase”, he threatened.

The proposal must determine, as previously published by the New York Timesthat 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 conflict between Israel and Hezbollah — to fill the void.

According to the website Axiosthe US government must also offer support to Israel’s military actions in the region in case of violation of the agreement, in addition to supporting initiatives against arms smuggling.