Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s security cabinet convened on Wednesday night, reportedly to discuss a temporary ceasefire in Lebanon, amid growing expectations in Jerusalem that a truce may be unavoidable in the face of US pressure.

“Our assessment is that within a few days, we will have no choice but to fully cease fire in Lebanon,” a senior Israeli political source told Channel 12.

The US is pressing Israel to agree to a temporary one-week ceasefire in its fight against the Iran-backed Hezbollah terror group, according to the report, hoping such a step will aid US-backed negotiations between Israel and Lebanon as well as Washington’s efforts to reach an agreement with Iran to end the war there.

Sources in Hezbollah and the Lebanese government told Reuters that efforts at reaching a ceasefire were underway. The reports came a day after a historic Israeli-Lebanese meeting in Washington, and six weeks after Hezbollah began attacking Israel amid the US-Israeli war with Iran, drawing a heavy Israeli military response.

Fighting between Israel and Hezbollah continued on Wednesday. Five IDF soldiers were wounded, one seriously and four lightly, in a Hezbollah rocket attack in southern Lebanon, the military announced. The troops were taken to a hospital and their families were notified, the IDF added.

During a visit to southern Lebanon on Wednesday, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir said he had approved new battle plans for both Lebanon and Iran and designated southern Lebanon, up to the Litani River, as a “killing zone for Hezbollah terrorists.”

Temporary truce aimed at spurring Iran, Lebanon peace talks

An Israeli security source told Channel 12 that while Washington seeks to de-escalate the fighting with Hezbollah, it is also sympathetic to Israeli concerns and therefore has proposed a temporary ceasefire lasting one week, preserving an option of returning to fighting if a more robust deal is not reached in that time.

The proposal was first raised days ago by top US envoy Steve Witkoff in talks with senior Israeli and regional officials, the report added, saying that Netanyahu and Israeli officials initially succeeded in swaying the US against the idea. Now, however, they understand the US wishes to move ahead with it.

Tuesday saw Israeli and Lebanese officials meet for a historic summit in Washington, the highest-level meeting between the two countries to date, which US officials hope will lead to serious negotiations on a peace treaty.

Recent days have also seen reported progress in negotiations between Washington and Tehran over a framework to end the Iran war. A two-week ceasefire in that conflict is due to end on April........

© The Times of Israel