Israel is potentially days away from a ceasefire deal with Lebanon’s Hizbullah, the Israeli ambassador to the United States said, following a new round of shuttle diplomacy by a senior envoy for the outgoing Biden administration.
“We are close to deal,” Michael Herzog told Israel’s Army Radio on Monday. “It could happen within days.”
There have been similar predictions by other Israeli and US officials in recent weeks but it remains unclear if Hizbullah will accept a deal. The Iran-backed group has been severely weakened after two months of increased Israeli sabotage, air strikes and ground incursions in southern Lebanon. But it’s still able to fire rockets into Israel on a daily basis and put up resistance against Israeli ground forces.
On Sunday, Hizbullah fired at least 250 rockets and drones into Israel, wounding several people, and the Israeli Air Force struck targets on the southern outskirts of Beirut where Hizbullah holds sway, with fighter jets racing across the skies above the Lebanese capital and deafening explosions ringing out for miles.
Lebanon’s state-run news agency described the bombardment as a “ring of fire,” with thick, black plumes of smoke seen rising above the city’s skyline.
The air strikes followed a series of sweeping evacuation warnings Sunday by the Israeli military for the area, known as the Dahiya – more warnings than in any other day this month. The 250 projectiles fired into Israel on Sunday represents one of the group’s largest aerial attacks over the past year.
The two sides have been in conflict since Hizbullah began launching strikes against Israel in October last year in solidarity with Hamas in Gaza. Both groups are deemed terrorist organisations by the US and many other countries.
White House envoy Amos Hochstein was in the region last week to try to clinch a ceasefire before President Joe Biden hands over to Donald Trump in January.
According to Army Radio, once the Israeli government of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu signs off on a truce, Washington will take it to Beirut, where government officials have been serving as intermediaries with Hizbullah. Last week, one of Hizbullah’s main political allies, Lebanese House Speaker Nabih Berri, said there was progress but there were still “technical details” to resolve.
Talks between Israel and Hamas over a ceasefire in Gaza have been stalled for months. Though the conflicts are connected, there’s little sign a deal over Lebanon would increase the chances of a truce in Gaza. – Bloomberg