Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared on Thursday that 10-day ceasefire with Lebanon offers opportunity for ‘historic peace deal’. But he insisted that the disarmament of the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah was a necessary condition. TASR writes about it according to an AFP report.
“We have an opportunity to conclude a historic peace agreement with Lebanon,” Netanyahu said in his televised address. US President Donald Trump previously reported that Netanyahu and Lebanese President Joseph Awn had agreed on a ten-day truce that would come into force on Thursday evening at 11:00 p.m. CEST, noting that it would also cover the militant movement.
“This opportunity exists because we have fundamentally changed the balance of power in Lebanon,” stated and highlighted Israel’s military successes against Hezbollah since the outbreak of war in October 2023. “This balance has changed so much that over the past month we have started receiving phone calls from Lebanon calling for direct peace talks – something that hasn’t happened in over 40 years,” he said.
Netanyahu stated that Israel agrees to 10-day truce but maintains 10-kilometer ‘safety zone’ along the border in southern Lebanon. He added that Tel Aviv has two conditions for a cease-fire: the disarmament of Hezbollah and a permanent “strength-based” peace deal. At the same time, he said he rejected two demands that Hezbollah had, namely a complete withdrawal of Israel from Lebanese territory and a cease-fire based on the principle of “peace in exchange for peace.”
