Israel cabinet discusses Lebanon ceasefire framework: minister
Israel’s security cabinet is discussing the terms of a truce with Hezbollah in south Lebanon, where Israeli troops are conducting a ground offensive, Energy Minister Eli Cohen said, AFP reports.
“There are discussions, I think it will still take time”, Cohen told Israeli public radio.
According to Israel’s Channel 12 television, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held talks with ministers on Tuesday evening on Israel’s demands in return for a 60-day truce.
These include an Hezbollah pullback north of the Litani river, some 30 kilometres from the Israeli frontier, the Lebanese army’s deployment along the border, an international intervention mechanism to enforce the truce and a guarantee that Israel will maintain freedom of action in case of threats.
“Thanks to all the army’s operations these past months and particularly these past weeks… Israel can come in a position of strength after the entire Hezbollah leadership was eliminated and over 2,000 Hezbollah terrorist infrastructures were hit”, said Cohen, a former intelligence minister.