Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he was backing a cease-fire with Hezbollah that would stop more than a year of fighting with the Lebanese militia.
Netanyahu in a televised address said Israel should accept the deal to able to focus on the threat from Iran , allow the Israeli military to rest and rearm, and isolate Hamas. Lebanese officials say the agreement would go into effect on Wednesday.
The announcement came after a day of heavy bombardment of Beirut while Israeli ground forces advanced deeper into Lebanese territory.
In southern Lebanon, the Israeli military also said its forces reached the Litani River, a significant marker in the war. Israel has demanded Hezbollah pull its forces back north of the river.
Powerful explosions shook central Beirut, while the Israeli military announced at least 18 strikes targeting what it said was Hezbollah infrastructure in the southern section of the capital. Earlier, the military said it launched 30 strikes targeting the militant group in southern Lebanon.
At least one person was killed and 10 others injured in a strike on central Beirut, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry.
The military said Israeli forces battled Hezbollah gunmen near the Litani River and destroyed various weapons sites belonging to the group in the area. Israeli forces reached the river in southeastern Lebanon, where the waterway passes closest to the Israeli border, according to the military.
Israel has urged Hezbollah to pull its forces north of the waterway in keeping with a United Nations Security Council resolution that ended Israel’s last full-scale war with the group in 2006. The Lebanese government has accepted the resolution, which also calls on the Israeli military to withdraw from the country, as a basis for the anticipated cease-fire deal.
Hezbollah, an Iranian-backed militia and political party, joined the war with Israel the day after the Hamas-led Oct. 7 attack last year that killed 1,200 Israelis and seized some 250 hostages, intervening in support of its smaller Palestinian ally.
The Israeli offensive in Lebanon has killed many of Hezbollah’s top leaders and destroyed much of its stockpiles of weapons, but hasn’t stopped the group’s ability to launch missile and drone strikes in Israel. At least 10 projectiles were fired from Lebanon into Israel on Tuesday, the Israeli military said.
Israel’s bombing has pushed Lebanon into chaos, uprooting more than a million people from their homes, according to the Lebanese government. More than 3,700 people have also been killed in Lebanon, most of them since Israel escalated the campaign against Hezbollah in September, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry.
Inside Israel, Hezbollah rocket and drone attacks have also displaced tens of thousands of Israelis, creating pressure on the government to roll back the militia.
