The White House would not comment Monday afternoon on media reports indicating that the US and France will announce a 60-day ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah on Tuesday, with National Security Communications Advisor John Kirby telling reporters that it “wouldn’t be wise for him to go into much detail at this particular point.”
US President Joe Biden and French President Emmanuel Macron are expected to announce a ceasefire between Lebanon’s Hezbollah and Israel within 36 hours under existing plans, Reuters reported, citing four senior Lebanese sources on Monday.
Earlier, the pan-Arab Asharq al-Awsat newspaper reported that Biden and Macron would declare a 60-day ceasefire on Tuesday.
The war cabinet is set to convene the same day to approve the pending ceasefire that would bring an end to hostilities on Israel’s northern border with Lebanon. An Israeli official told Reuters that the cabinet would convene to discuss a deal that could be cemented in the coming days.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly had approved a ceasefire with Lebanon “in principle” while meeting with Israeli officials on Sunday evening, citing outstanding issues before approval.
“Nothing is negotiated until everything is negotiated,” Kirby said. “Those conversations are ongoing.”
Though Kirby added the discussions were constructive and the NSC believes “the trajectory of this is going in a positive direction.”
“We are where we are today because of a lot of back and forth, a lot of discussions, a lot of work, principally by [Amos Hochstein], of course, and we believe we’ve reached this point where we’re close,” Kirby said.
But the deal is not done, Kirby emphasized multiple times.
“We need to keep at the work to see it through so that we can actually get the ceasefire for which we’ve been working,” Kirby said. “And we believe we’ve reached this point where we’re close.”
Kirby repeatedly tiptoed around discussing specifics of the deal, concluding his briefing by explaining he didn’t want to do or say anything “that might torpedo our chances.”
“The most important thing here is that we try to get this ceasefire because it will mean, literally, that lives will be saved,” Kirby said. “And hopefully, over a period of time, that livelihoods will be restored.”
‘No serious obstacles’
Lebanon’s deputy speaker of parliament, Elias Bou Saab, told Reuters on Monday that there were “no serious obstacles” left to beginning the implementation of a US-proposed 60-day truce to end fighting between Israel and Lebanon-based terror organization Hezbollah.
“There appear to be no serious obstacles in the way of starting to implement the US proposed ceasefire agreement,” Bou Saab said.
Bou Saab said the proposal included a 60-day timeline for Israeli forces to withdraw from Lebanese territory, giving time for the Lebanese army to deploy to southern Lebanon.
According to the spokesman, one focal point being negotiated is who would monitor the ceasefire, and that a five-country committee would be set up to monitor, including France and chaired by the United States.
A Lebanese official and Western diplomat told Reuters that the US had informed Lebanese officials a ceasefire could be announced “within hours.”
France, which Lebanon sought the involvement of in negotiations, was met with restraint in negotiations after announcing that the European nation would enforce the ICC warrants. Netanyahu was displeased with one of the key parties overseeing agreement implementation.
On both sides of the Israel-Lebanon border, thousands of people have been displaced from their communities, leading to copious fatality counts of both Israeli and Lebanese civilians.
Israel’s motivation to finalize ceasefire
Israeli public officials have responded to reports of a pending ceasefire.
Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said that a ceasefire agreement with Lebanon would hinge on enforcement that would keep Hezbollah disarmed and away from the border.
“The test for any agreement will be one, not in words or phrasing, but in enforcement only of the two main points. The first is preventing Hezbollah from moving southward beyond the Litani (River), and the second, preventing Hezbollah from rebuilding its force and rearming in all of Lebanon,” Saar said in Knesset, in broadcast remarks.
National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir called an agreement with Lebanon “a big mistake. A historic missed opportunity to eradicate Hezbollah. I understand all the constraints and reasons, and it is still a grave mistake,” he wrote on social media platform X.
הסכם עם לבנון הוא טעות גדולה. החמצה היסטורית של הזדמנות למגר את החיזבאללה. אני מבין את כל האילוצים והנימוקים, ועדיין מדובר בטעות חמורה. צריך להקשיב למפקדים הלוחמים בשטח, להקשיב לראשי הרשויות. דווקא כעת, כשחיזבאללה מוכה ומשתוקק להפסקת אש, אסור לעצור. כפי שהזהרתי בעבר בעזה אני…
— איתמר בן גביר (@itamarbengvir) November 25, 2024
Danny Danon, Israel’s Ambassador to the United Nations, said that talks were moving forward, but denied that Israel should halt all strikes on southern Lebanon.
This is a developing story.
Maya Gur Arieh and Reuters contributed to this report.
