Israel to decide on ceasefire as US says deal 'close'

Israel's security cabinet was due to meet Tuesday to vote on a proposed ceasefire in its war with Hezbollah in Lebanon, an official said, while the White House voiced optimism that a deal was close.

The United States, European Union and United Nations have pushed for a halt to the long-running hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah, which escalated into full-scale war in late September.

As truce talks intensified, exchanges of cross-border fire between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah have also increased, with Israel reporting around 250 projectiles launched at its territory on Sunday alone.

On Tuesday, strikes hit Hezbollah's south Beirut stronghold shortly after the Israeli military called for people to evacuate.

AFPTV footage showed multiple plumes of smoke rising from the area, a day after the Lebanese health ministry said Israeli air strikes killed 31 people, mostly in southern Lebanon.

On the diplomatic front, an Israeli official speaking on condition of anonymity said the security cabinet "will decide on Tuesday evening on the ceasefire deal".

US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said the talks were progressing but not yet finalised, noting, "We believe we've reached this point where we're close".

The United States and France have led efforts to broker a ceasefire.

France reported "significant progress" in talks, and Italy, which holds the rotating presidency of the G7 group of nations, expressed "optimism" over a truce.

US news outlet Axios reported the draft agreement includes a 60-day transition period.

Israeli forces would withdraw, the Lebanese army would redeploy near the border, and Hezbollah would move heavy weapons north of the Litani River, said Axios.

A US-led committee would oversee implementation, with provisions allowing Israel to act against imminent threats if Lebanese forces fail to intervene.

News of the security cabinet meeting came as the Israeli military said it conducted a wave of strikes on Monday, including on Beirut's southern suburbs, which Israel has repeatedly bombed since late September when it escalated its air campaign in Lebanon.

Strikes hit around two dozen Hezbollah targets across Lebanon in one hour on Monday, the military said. The strikes followed intense Hezbollah fire over the weekend, including some attacks deep into Israel.

- Syria strikes -

Israeli media reported that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was likely to endorse the US ceasefire proposal.

Asked in New York about the possible truce agreement, Israel's UN ambassador Danny Danon said "we are moving forward on this front", adding the cabinet would meet to discuss it.

The war in Lebanon followed nearly a year of limited cross-border exchanges of fire initiated by Hezbollah. The Lebanese group said it was acting in support of Hamas after the Palestinian group's October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, which sparked the war in Gaza.

Lebanon says at least 3,768 people have been killed in the country since October 2023, most of them in the past few weeks.

On the Israeli side, the Lebanon hostilities have killed at least 82 soldiers and 47 civilians, authorities say.

- Deal a 'mistake' -

The initial exchanges of fire forced tens of thousands of Israelis to flee their homes, and Israeli officials have said they are fighting so the residents can return safely.

Some northern residents expressed fears as to whether that was possible under a ceasefire.

"In my opinion, it would be a serious mistake to sign an agreement as long as Hezbollah has not been completely eliminated," said Maryam Younnes, 29, a student from Maalot-Tarshiha.

"It would be a mistake to sign an agreement as long as Hezbollah still has weapons."

Dorit Sison, a 51-year-old teacher displaced from Shlomi, said: "I don't want a ceasefire, because if they do it along the lines that they've announced, we'll be in the same place in five years."

Israel's far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir warned on X that reaching a Lebanon ceasefire deal would be a "historic missed opportunity to eradicate Hezbollah".

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said Israel had "no more excuses" to refuse a ceasefire.

Efforts this year by mediators to secure a truce and hostage-release deal in the Gaza war have failed.

Qatar early this month said it was suspending its mediation role until the warring sides showed "seriousness".

In Gaza, the civil defence agency said 11 people were killed in nighttime Israeli strikes across the Palestinian territory.

With the violence showing no signs of abating, remaining Gazans were left "scavenging among the rubble" for food, said Louise Wateridge, spokeswoman for the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA.

Such conditions put people at risk of encountering unexploded and unused ordnance that can be found in many populated areas of the territory, the Danish Refugee Council said.

Hamas's attack on October 7 last year resulted in the deaths of 1,207 people, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.

Israel's retaliatory campaign has killed 44,235 people in Gaza, according to figures from the Hamas-run territory's health ministry that the United Nations considers reliable.

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