Israel has approved a United States-brokered ceasefire agreement with Hezbollah in Lebanon, setting the stage for an end to nearly 14 months of fighting linked to the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip.
Israel's security cabinet approved the ceasefire agreement late on Tuesday, local time, in a 10-1 vote after it was presented by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The ceasefire agreement is meant to take effect at 4am local time, (1pm AEDT) today.
Mr Netanyahu's office said US President Joe Biden, speaking in Washington, called the agreement "good news" and said his administration would make a renewed push for a ceasefire in Gaza.
Mr Biden announced details of the ceasefire deal in Washington, saying it was designed to be a permanent cessation of hostilities.
The Lebanese army would take control of its territory again and Hezbollah's infrastructure in southern Lebanon would not be allowed to be rebuilt, he said.
Over the next 60 days, Israel would gradually withdraw its remaining forces, Mr Biden said, and civilians on both sides would soon be able to safely return to their communities.
Hezbollah must also move its fighters behind the Litani River, around 30 kilometres from the de facto Blue Line border, and allow for the Lebanese army to take hold of the area in southern Lebanon.
But he said Israel retained the right to self-defence if the deal was broken.
Mr Netanyahu earlier said the ceasefire would last as long as Hezbollah allowed it to and promised to return to fighting if Hezbollah threatened Israel.
In a televised address, he said a Lebanon truce would allow Israel to "focus on [the] Iranian threat" and its operations in Gaza.
"In full coordination with the United States, we retain complete military freedom of action," he said.
"Should Hezbollah violate the agreement or attempt to rearm, we will strike decisively.
French President Emmanuel Macron cheered the signing of the deal on social media platform X, saying it was "the culmination of efforts undertaken for many months with the Israeli and Lebanese authorities, in close collaboration with the United States".
Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati issued a statement welcoming the deal. Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib earlier said the Lebanese army would be ready to have at least 5,000 troops deployed in southern Lebanon as Israeli troops withdrew.
The United Nations special coordinator for Lebanon, Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, welcomed the ceasefire deal in a statement, commending the parties to the agreement.
"Now is the time to deliver, through concrete actions, to consolidate today's achievement," she said.
Hostilities continue in lead-up to ceasefire
Despite the diplomatic breakthrough, Israel dramatically ramped up its air strikes in Beirut and other parts of Lebanon ahead of the ceasefire, with health authorities reporting at least 18 killed.
The Israeli military said it struck "components of Hezbollah's financial management and systems" including a money-exchange office.
Israel issued more evacuation warnings late on Tuesday, just hours before the ceasefire was due to take effect.
Hezbollah also kept up rocket fire into Israel.
Israel's air force intercepted three launches from Lebanese territory, the military said, in an extensive missile barrage on Tuesday night that led to warning alarms in approximately 115 settlements.
Alia Ibrahim, a mother of twin girls from the southern village of Qaaqaiyat al-Snawbar, who had fled nearly three months ago to Beirut, said she hoped Israeli officials, who had expressed contradictory views on a ceasefire, would be faithful to the deal.
"Our village — they destroyed half of it. In these few seconds before they announced the ceasefire, they destroyed half our village," she said. "God willing, we can go back to our homes and our land."
A poll conducted by Israel's Channel 12 TV found that 37 per cent of Israelis were in favour of the ceasefire, compared with 32 per cent against.
Opponents to the deal in Israel include opposition leaders and heads of towns near Israel's border with Lebanon, who want a depopulated buffer zone on Lebanon's side of the frontier.
Both the Lebanese government and Hezbollah have insisted that a return of displaced civilians to southern Lebanon is a key tenet of the truce.
Israeli Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, a right-wing member of Netanyahu's government, said on X the agreement did not ensure the return of Israelis to their homes in the country's north and that the Lebanese army did not have the ability to overcome Hezbollah.
"In order to leave Lebanon, we must have our own security belt," Ben-Gvir said.
Over the past year, more than 3,750 people have been killed and more than 1 million have been forced from their homes, according to the ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its figures.
Israel has dealt major blows to Hezbollah, killing its leader Hassan Nasrallah and other top commanders, and inflicting massive destruction in areas of Lebanon where the group holds sway.
Hezbollah's campaign followed the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, attacks on Israel that precipitated the Gaza war. The conflict in Lebanon has drastically escalated over the past two months.
ABC/wires
