‘Not the Same Hezbollah’: Netanyahu Pitches Ceasefire to Israel
Jerusalem, 26 November, 2024 (TPS) -- Addressing Israel on Tuesday evening, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he would submit a ceasefire proposal to the Cabinet for approval.
“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,” Netanyahu said.
“We have attacked strategic targets all over Lebanon, and brought down dozens of the terrorist towers in Dahya. The ground in Beirut is shaking. Citizens of Israel, just three months ago all of this would have sounded like science fiction. But it is not science fiction. We did it.”
The agreement calls for an initial two-month ceasefire. During this time, Hezbollah would withdraw its armed presence from areas of southern Lebanon south of the Litani River, as stipulated in by UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which ended the Second War in Lebanon in 2006. Israeli forces will also withdraw from southern Lebanon during the ceasefire. The Lebanese Armed Forces would be deployed in southern Lebanon including along the 120 km border with Israel.
Explaining the timing of the ceasefire, the Prime Minister said this would allow allowing the army to rest its soldiers and receive delayed munitions, focus on the Iranian threat, and isolate Hamas, which would raise the likelihood of a hostage release.
“From the second day of the war, Hamas has been counting on Hezbollah to fight alongside it. And with Hezbollah out of the picture, Hamas is left alone in the campaign,” Netanyahu said.
Regarding Iran, Netanyahu said, “We destroyed significant parts of its air defense, missile production capabilities, and a critical component of its nuclear program.”
After the Hamas attacks of October 7, 2023, Hezbollah began launching rockets and launching drones at northern Israel communities daily. More than 68,000 residents of northern Israel are displaced from their homes. Hezbollah leaders have repeatedly said they would continue the attacks to prevent Israelis from returning to their homes.
At least 1,200 people were killed, and 252 Israelis and foreigners were taken hostage in Hamas’s attacks on Israeli communities near the Gaza border on October 7. Of the 97 remaining hostages, more than 30 have been declared dead. Hamas has also been holding captive two Israeli civilians since 2014 and 2015, and the bodies of two soldiers killed in 2014.