Katz: 'We won’t agree to just any ceasefire, Hezbollah must withdraw beyond Litani River'

Israel would reject any ceasefire that does not push Hezbollah back behind the Litani River, Defense Minister Israel Katz said on Wednesday amid reports that such an agreement was near.

"We will not agree to just any cease-fires, we will not take our foot off the gas, and we will not accept any agreement that does not include the achievement of the war goals,” Katz said as he visited the Northern Command.

This includes “the disarmament of Hezbollah, its withdrawal beyond the Litani [River], and creating the conditions for the residents of the north to return to their homes in safety,” Katz said as he laid out Israel’s conditions for such a deal.

Any such agreement must give Israel the right to “enforce” the deal and to “act against any terrorist activity and organization,” he explained.

Roadblocks in Lebanon

Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, an erstwhile ally of Hezbollah and endorsed by it to negotiate, was quoted as saying that Lebanon was awaiting concrete ceasefire proposals and had not been informed officially of any new ideas.

"What is on the table is only Resolution 1701 and its provisions, which must be implemented and adhered to by both sides, not by the Lebanese side alone," Berri, who helped negotiate the 2006 truce, told Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper.

The US has stepped up its diplomatic activity in the last weeks and is hoping to put a deal in place before US President Joe Biden leaves office on January 20.

Biden’s status as a lame-duck leader could hamper his ability to strike an agreement on Israel’s behalf, but Lebanon is one of the areas where both the outgoing and incoming administrations could have the same policy goals for such a deal.

There is broad agreement that any deal would be based on United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701 which set the ceasefire terms which ended the Second Lebanon War in 2006. That resolution mandated the removal of Hezbollah from the area between Israel and the Litani River but was never enforced even though United Nations peacekeepers monitored that region.

The United States is now seeking an enforcement mechanism that would ensure that the only armed body in that area would be the Lebanese Army.

Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer met with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Monday to discuss terms for a deal. France, which has also been involved in the mediations, spoke with Israel last week about its security concerns when its Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot visit the Jewish state last week.

Reuters contributed to this report.