Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the Israeli people on Tuesday evening before the cabinet voted on approving the ceasefire in Lebanon.
Following the speech, the cabinet announced that it had approved the ceasefire agreement in Lebanon and that it would be implemented at 10 a.m. on Wednesday.
Netanyahu gave a summary of the IDF’s operations across Gaza, Lebanon, the West Bank, and Syria in his remarks.
“This is not the same Hezbollah,” Netanyahu said, “Hezbollah chose to attack us from there on October 8. We set it back decades. We eliminated Nasrallah; we eliminated all The senior officials of the organization and thousands of terrorists, and we destroyed most of the rocket capabilities and the infrastructure it built near our border.”
“We reserve the right to use all forms of military force if Hezbollah begins rearming contrary to the agreement,” he said.
“I am being told Hezbollah will be quiet for a year or two and then attack. Hezbollah will violate the agreement, and we will act.”
“People didn’t believe we could enter Gaza, and we entered; they said we couldn’t enter Rafah, and we did; they said we couldn’t attack Lebanon, and we did, so maybe people should begin believing.”
Ceasefire now?
He laid out why a ceasefire was the right option: “Three reasons for the ceasefire: focusing on the Iranian threat – and I won’t elaborate on that, refreshing and replenishing our troops – this issue will be resolved soon and disconnecting the fronts and isolating Hamas.”
The main points of the ceasefire are a cessation of hostilities, Lebanese government supervision of the sale and production of weapons in Lebanon, the return of Lebanese civilians to their homes in south Lebanon, the Lebanese Army taking control of all border crossings, a gradual IDF withdrawal over the course of 60 days.
Prior to his speech, Netanyahu met with the heads of local authorities in the north and told them that they would not be able to return to their homes because the ceasefire agreement is only for 60 days.
“At this time, none of you are going home,” Netanyahu told the northern heads of authority.
Anti-ceasefire demonstrators took to the streets in the hours leading up to the speech, some demanding victory before peace, others calling to settle southern Lebanon.
Opposition head Yair Lapid commented on the speech, saying, “On Netanyahu’s watch, the greatest disaster in our history happened; no agreement with Hezbollah will erase lawlessness. We urgently need a hostage deal to bring home the citizens who were displaced.”
Announcements from both the United States and France are expected later on Tuesday.
