Israeli jets struck a residential building in central Beirut on Tuesday and issued new evacuation orders for 20 buildings in the Lebanese capital’s southern suburbs. The strike leveled the building in central Beirut’s Basta neighborhood, the second strike in recent days in the crowded area near the city’s downtown.
Israeli Prime Minister recommended his Cabinet approve a United States-brokered with , setting the stage for an end to nearly 14 months of fighting linked to the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip.
In the hours leading up to the Cabinet meeting, Israel carried out its most intense wave of and its southern suburbs and issued
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‘Everyone is coming to the table because of President Trump’
Rep. Mike Waltz, President-elect Donald Trump’s designate to be national security adviser, credited Trump’s victory with helping to bring the parties together toward a ceasefire in Lebanon.
“Everyone is coming to the table because of President Trump,” he said in on Tuesday. “His resounding victory sent a clear message to the rest of the world that chaos won’t be tolerated. I’m glad to see concrete steps towards deescalation in the Middle East.”
He added: “But let’s be clear: The Iran Regime is the root cause of the chaos & terror that has been unleashed across the region. We will not tolerate the status quo of their support for terrorism.”
More on the latest round of strikes in Beirut
Israeli jets targeted a building in a bustling commercial area of Beirut for the first time since the start of the 13-month war between Hezbollah and Israel. A separate strike hit the Mar Elias neighborhood in the country’s capital Tuesday.
There was no immediate word on casualties from either strike, part of the biggest wave of attacks on the capital since the war started.
Residents in central Beirut were seen fleeing after the Israeli army issued evacuation warnings for four targets in the city.
The strike on Hamra is around 400 meters from the country’s central bank.
Meanwhile, the Israeli army carried out airstrikes on at least 30 targets in Beirut’s southern suburbs Tuesday, including two strikes in the Jnah neighborhood near the Kuwaiti Embassy. Lebanon’s Health Ministry reported that 13 people were injured in the strikes on the southern suburbs.
WATCH: Netanyahu says he supports proposed ceasefire with Lebanon’s Hezbollah
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday recommended his Cabinet approve a United States-brokered ceasefire agreement with Lebanon’s Hezbollah, setting the stage for an end to nearly 14 months of fighting linked to the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip.
JUST IN: Israel strikes crowded neighborhood in Beirut as part of its biggest attacks on the Lebanese capital since the start of the war
Hezbollah leader says the group has not seen the final ceasefire agreement
Speaking to Qatari satellite news network Al Jazeera, Mahmoud Qamati, deputy chair of Hezbollah’s political council, said the militant group has not yet seen the ceasefire agreement in its final form.
“After reviewing the agreement signed by the enemy government, we will see if there is a match between what we stated and what was agreed upon by the Lebanese officials,” he said.
“We want an end to the aggression, of course, but not at the expense of the sovereignty of the state” of Lebanon, he said, in an apparent reference to Israel’s insistance on maintaining the right to strike in Lebanon if it believes Hezbollah is violating the terms of the agreement.
“Any violation of sovereignty is refused.”
Netanyahu vows to strike Hezbollah if it violates the agreement
In a televised statement, Netanyahu listed a series of accomplishments against Israel’s enemies across the region in recent months. He said a ceasefire with Hezbollah would further isolate Hamas in Gaza and would allow Israel to turn its focus to Iran — Hezbollah’s backer and Israel’s biggest threat in the region. He vowed to strike Hezbollah hard if it violates the agreement.
“If Hezbollah breaks the agreement and tries to rearm, we will attack,” he said. “For every violation, we will attack with might.”
Lebanon’s prime minister said Tuesday’s wave of Israeli airstrikes was “hysterical Israeli aggression” ahead of a possible ceasefire
Najib Mikati accused Israel of targeting civilians and violating international laws, and said the attacks on the capital Beirut reflect “the enemy’s hatred for it as it represents a cradle for all the Lebanese regardless of their affiliations.”
Mikati called on the international community to act swiftly to end the war and implement an immediate ceasefire.
An Israeli Cabinet vote on the ceasefire is expected later Tuesday
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Tuesday that he would recommend his cabinet adopt a United States-brokered with Lebanon’s Hezbollah.
In a televised statement, Netanyahu said he would present the ceasefire to Cabinet ministers later on Tuesday, setting the stage for an end to nearly 14 months of fighting.
Netanyahu said the vote was expected later Tuesday. It was not immediately clear when the ceasefire would go into effect, and the exact terms of the deal were not released. The deal does not affect Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza, which shows no signs of ending.
JUST IN: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he is recommending Hezbollah cease-fire proposal to Cabinet for approval
Netanyahu’s statement is underway
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is delivering a speech to the country in Hebrew after its leaders held a meeting on whether to accept a with Hezbollah militants in Lebanon.
Dozens of people who fled areas that received Israeli threats are gathered in Beirut’s landmark Martyrs’ Square
Some covered themselves in blankets to keep warm, others stood around fires. Roads were clogged with cars, some with mattresses placed on top. Some people had their pajamas on.
Israeli protestors call for the return of hostages
Dozens of Israeli protesters took to a major highway in Tel Aviv on Tuesday evening to call for the return of the hostages held by Hamas in Gaza, as the country awaited news of a potential ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah.
Protesters chanted “We are all hostages,” and “Deal now!” waving signs with faces of some of the roughly 100 hostages believed to be still held in Gaza, at least a third of whom are thought to be dead. Most of the other hostages Hamas captured in the Oct. 7, 2023 attack were released during a ceasefire last year.
The prospect of a ceasefire deal in Lebanon has raised desperation among the relatives of captives still held in Gaza, who once hoped that the release of hostages from Gaza would be included. Instead of a comprehensive deal, the ceasefire on the table is instead narrowly confined to Lebanon.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken says he’s hopeful for a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah
“We are tracking this very closely. I hope and believe we can get this over the finish line,” Blinken said in Fiuggi, Italy at the end of
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken holds a press conference at the end of the G7 of foreign Ministers in Fiuggi, some 70 kilometers southeast of Rome, Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino, Pool)
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken holds a press conference at the end of the G7 of foreign Ministers in Fiuggi, some 70 kilometers southeast of Rome, Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino, Pool)
Roads leading from Sidon are filled with traffic as residents try to flee
Roads leading out of the Lebanese coastal city of Sidon are snarled with traffic as residents flee Israeli evacuation warnings and airstrikes targeting a Hezbollah-linked financial intuition in the city, state media reported.
Dozens of Israelis have gathered outside Israel’s military headquarters in central Tel Aviv to demonstrate against the expected ceasefire
Death toll rises from Tuesday’s strikes
IN PHOTOS: Israel strikes central Beirut
