'Surrender agreement': Northern Israeli leaders slam potential Lebanon ceasefire deal

Heads of localities in the North criticized the ceasefire deal between Israel and Lebanon on Tuesday, fearing the agreement does not go far enough in ensuring safety for the northern communities.

“A ceasefire agreement between Israel and Lebanon that does not include an arrangement to ensure the security of the communities along Israel’s northern border would be a disaster,” Moshe Davidovich, head of the Mateh Asher Regional Council, said on Tuesday.

“If a ceasefire agreement is signed between Lebanon and Israel and it does not include a significant arrangement to restore the security of the residents of the front-line communities before they return home – including a buffer zone near the border with a strong international force and the removal of Hezbollah beyond the Litani River – it will be a disaster for generations,” he stated.

“We do not want to find ourselves repeating history, facing the same failures as after the First and Second Lebanon Wars with unenforced agreements. I remind the Israeli government that the residents of the North are Israel’s first line of defense, and as such, their security must be ensured.”

Kiryat Shmona Mayor Avihay Shtern termed the potential deal “a surrender agreement” in a Facebook post on Monday.

'October 6 reality'

“When you propose to return us to the reality of October 6 in the North, where our sons could be taken captive, our daughters raped, and our homes burned – we will not agree, we will not return, and we will not cooperate with these surrender agreements,” he wrote.

Later on Tuesday, Walla reported that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu invited the heads of regional councils in the North to a meeting regarding the deal.

National Unity chairman Benny Gantz said during a visit to the northern border towns, “We must insist on a good deal that brings the northern residents homes – and not a deal that will bring Hezbollah back instead.”

Yisrael Beytenu chairman Avigdor Liberman called on Netanyahu to publicize the full terms of the deal and warned that it is “a copy of Netanyahu’s 2018 deal with Hamas.”

On Tuesday afternoon, dozens gathered in Tel Aviv to protest the deal, questioning whether it would lead to another October 7.

Around 60,000 people are still displaced from their homes in the North after they were evacuated last October.The US-brokered ceasefire proposal outlines a 60-day truce during which Israeli forces would withdraw from southern Lebanon, where the Lebanese military would be deployed, barring Hezbollah from entrenching itself in the area.