Netanyahu Says War Cabinet to Vote on Lebanon Cease-Fire
Live MintIsraeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he was bringing a proposed cease-fire with the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah to a vote in Israel’s security cabinet Tuesday night, potentially paving the way for an end to a war that’s killed thousands of people and forced more than a million to flee their homes. Netanyahu said in televised remarks Tuesday that a cease-fire would allow Israel to focus “on the Iranian threat,” increase pressure on Hamas in Gaza and free up weapons that have been withheld. One key obstacle to a truce in this conflict has been Israel’s insistence on being able to continue striking Hezbollah positions if it thought the group was breaching the terms of any cease-fire agreement. Hezbollah had long insisted that no cease-fire could be discussed until Israel stopped its war in Gaza, but the weakening of the group’s capabilities since September helped drive it to accept a deal.