Israel – Yesterday, Tuesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu justified the reasons for now approving a ceasefire agreement with Lebanon, pointing out that the agreement will be presented to the Council of Ministers tonight for approval.
This came in a recorded video speech that seemed directed at inside Israel, especially at the extremist Yemeni voices in its government, and the heads of settlements and cities in the north who reject the agreement, as they consider it “submission” to the “Lebanese faction movement.”
The speech comes after Israeli media reports, including the private newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth, said that the mini-security council (cabinet) approved the agreement earlier this evening, after a meeting chaired by Netanyahu, without officially announcing it.
Netanyahu said in a recorded video speech that he “will present tonight to the (entire) Cabinet the broad outlines of a ceasefire agreement with Lebanon.”
He added, “The duration of the ceasefire depends on what will happen in Lebanon,” indicating that what he is talking about may be a temporary truce, not a permanent agreement.
Regarding the thorny clause in the agreement that Lebanon rejects, Netanyahu said, “Through full understanding with the United States, we maintain complete freedom of military action.”
He added, explaining: “If Hezbollah violates the agreement and tries to arm itself, we will attack.” If he tries to renovate the terrorist infrastructure near the border, we will attack. If he launches a missile, digs a tunnel, or brings a truck loaded with missiles, we will attack.”
** Justifications for accepting the agreement
Justifying the reasons that support accepting a ceasefire agreement with Lebanon now, Netanyahu spoke of three main reasons, which are “focusing on the Iranian threat,” “complete renewal of power,” and “separating the arenas and isolating the movement of Palestinian factions.”
He added, explaining that the “Palestinian factions” had been relying on the intervention of the “Lebanese factions” since the second day of the war (on October 8, 2023), and with “the Lebanese factions out of the equation, the Palestinian factions remain alone.” “This makes it easier to increase pressure on it to achieve the sacred mission of liberating the hostages,” he claimed.
In his message of “reassurance” to the extreme right-wing voices that refuse to stop the war, Netanyahu enumerated, during his speech, what he considered “accomplishments made by his army on the northern (Lebanon) and southern (Gaza) fronts, the most prominent of which were the assassinations carried out against leaders of the Palestinian and Lebanese faction movement.”
This comes despite more than a year having passed since the start of the war of extermination on Gaza on October 7, 2023, without the Israeli army being able to fully achieve the goals it announced, which are eliminating the movement of Palestinian factions and returning settlers to the areas from which they were evacuated in the north and south.
While ambiguity prevails regarding the details of the agreement and the final Lebanese position on it, the private Hebrew newspaper “Israel Hayom” said that the agreement – once approved by the entire Ministerial Council – will enter into force at ten in the morning, Israeli time (8:00 GMT).
**Israeli criticism of the agreement
Inside Israel, right-wing voices inside and outside Netanyahu’s government strongly criticized the proposed agreement.
The far-right Minister of National Security, Itamar Ben Gvir, described the agreement as a “historic mistake.”
Ben Gvir, who is also a member of the Cabinet, said in a blog post on his account on the X platform: “I oppose the agreement with Lebanon because it is not a ceasefire but a return to the concept of calm for calm, which we previously saw where it led us.” “This agreement does not achieve the primary war goal of returning the people of the North to their homes safely.”
He added: “To withdraw from Lebanon, we must have our own security belt.”
In turn, the former Israeli Chief of Staff and member of the Knesset from the “State Camp” party, Gadi Eisenkot, considered talk about the Lebanese army dismantling the capabilities of the Lebanese factions just a “joke.”
In statements to Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper, Eisenkot said that the limited details available about the agreement raise many difficult questions.
He pointed out “the problem of the absence of a similar agreement in the arena with the Palestinian factions, which are still detaining kidnapped Israelis.”
He continued: “There are many loopholes in the agreement. Who are the parties that will sign it? Who are you supposed to implement? Will the Lebanese army really dismantle the capabilities of the Lebanese factions? “It seems to me that this is just the beginning of a joke.”
For his part, opposition leader Yair Lapid commented on Netanyahu’s speech by saying: “The greatest disaster in our history occurred during Netanyahu’s era (that is, until the Al-Aqsa flood operation on October 7, 2023), and any agreement with the Lebanese factions will not erase the current state of chaos.”
He added: “There is an urgent need to deal seriously with the issue of the kidnapped people (from Gaza).”
He continued: “The Israeli government did not present any political initiative, but rather moved toward an agreement with the Lebanese factions.”
The Israeli talk about the imminent approval of a ceasefire agreement with Lebanon coincides with Israel’s escalation of its aggression against the Lebanese capital, Beirut, and its southern suburb, in addition to large areas in the south and east of the country. Which led to dozens of deaths and injuries.
With American support, Israel has been committing genocide in Gaza since October 7, 2023, leaving about 149,000 Palestinians dead and wounded, most of them children and women, and more than 10,000 missing, amid massive destruction and famine that killed dozens of children and the elderly, in one of the worst humanitarian disasters in the world. .
Anatolia
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