Israel and Lebanon are nearing a US-mediated lasting ceasefire agreement, a report said Tuesday, as Israel and American officials insisted that the US-Iran deal signed Sunday does not mandate an IDF withdrawal from the areas of southern Lebanon it currently controls.

Significant progress has been made in recent talks between Jerusalem and Beirut in Washington, Channel 12 news reported.

According to the report, details of the agreement are being finalized, and the Lebanese Armed Forces have begun deploying on the ground as part of the emerging deal.

The framework is also expected to allow residents of southern Lebanon who evacuated amid Israeli strikes on the Hezbollah terror group to return to their homes, the network said.

The talks, which Israel has said are ultimately aimed at securing a full peace deal while Lebanon has said they are only focused on de-escalation, have faced an uphill battle since the Iran-backed Hezbollah has vowed not to recognize or abide by any deal they yield, raising the prospect of a renewed civil war.

Meanwhile, US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee reiterated Tuesday that Hezbollah is not included in the deal between the US and Iran, as Tehran continued to insist that Israel was required to halt its offensive in Lebanon under the terms of the agreement. Multiple leaks Tuesday night of the deal’s terms, including its purported full text, appeared to indicate it includes a full halt to hostilities in Lebanon.

But in response to Hezbollah claiming that the terror group received assurances from Iran that there will be no nuclear deal without Israel’s withdrawal from Lebanon, Huckabee said that US Secretary of State Marco Rubio “made clear” that the two issues aren’t connected.

“Israel doesn’t need Iran permission to defend itself,” he wrote on X. “The tether of terror must end.”

Israeli Ambassador to the US Yechiel Leiter voiced a similar sentiment.

“We’re not going to withdraw from south Lebanon, and the madmen of Tehran have no business poking their nose into this,” Leiter told NPR, asserting that it was “crystal clear” that any deal with Tehran “has nothing to do with our withdrawal from south Lebanon.”

But on Tuesday evening, Iran’s Top Joint Military Command, ​Khatam al-Anbiya Central ‌Headquarters, threatened Israel with a strong response from the Iranian armed forces if it did not stop its attacks in southern Lebanon.

Israeli........

© The Times of Israel