Israeli Envoy to US Says Cease-Fire Deal With Hezbollah Could Come ‘Within Days’

Smoke rises after an Israeli airstrike on Dahiyeh, in the southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, on Nov. 25, 2024. AP Photo/Bilal Hussein

A cease-fire agreement to halt the fighting between Israel and the Hezbollah terrorist group is nearly final, according to Michael Herzog, Israel’s ambassador to the United States.

“We are close to a deal,” Herzog said on Monday in an interview with Israel’s Army Radio, adding that there were still points that needed to be addressed. “It could happen within days.”

U.S. envoys under President Joe Biden had intensified their efforts to broker a truce before the upcoming presidential transition. On Nov. 19, Amos Hochstein, the White House’s Middle East envoy, visited Beirut for two days of talks with Lebanese officials before heading to Israel to continue the diplomatic push.

Another Biden envoy, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense Daniel Shapiro, has also been meeting with Israeli officials to finalize details of the potential cease-fire, according to local media reports.

Under the proposed terms, Hezbollah would pull back its forces north of the Litani River, while the Lebanese army would assume control of southern Lebanon to prevent the terrorist group from reestablishing its presence there. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has demanded that any deal must preserve Israel’s ability to counter threats from Lebanon and ensure that displaced Israelis return to their homes. Tens of thousands of people have been forced to evacuate from northern Israel since Hezbollah began attacking on Oct. 8, 2023, a day after the Hamas terrorist group’s air, land, and sea attack on the country’s south.

But there is dissent within Netanyahu’s government. National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir has spoken out against the proposed deal, arguing that Israel’s northern border won’t be secure until Hezbollah’s destruction and that any cease-fire would be a “historic missed opportunity” to dismantle the Iran-backed group.

“It’s not too late to stop this agreement,” Ben Gvir wrote on X. “We must continue until absolute victory!”

It remains unclear whether Hezbollah would accept a deal. Israel’s recent sabotage operations, targeted airstrikes, and ground incursions in southern Lebanon have decimated the group’s high-ranking leadership and weakened its fighting force, yet Hezbollah continues to launch daily rocket attacks on Israeli towns and engage in clashes with Israeli ground troops.

As Washington-mediated negotiations proceed, violence on the ground has intensified. On Nov. 24, Hezbollah fired more than 250 rockets and drones at northern and central Israel throughout the day, wounding several civilians.

In response, the Israeli air force pounded the terrorist group’s infrastructure, including command centers in the southern suburbs of Beirut. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it warned civilians in the area to evacuate before the strikes.

“No country would tolerate this aggression,” IDF spokesman Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani wrote on X. “The IDF will continue to defend our civilians and respond to these attacks.”