Israel, Hezbollah reportedly open to truce talks after Gaza ceasefire

Israel has indicated that it would be open to indirect talks with Hezbollah once the terror group ceases its cross-border attacks.

By Akiva Van Koningsveld, JNS

Israel and the Lebanese terror group Hezbollah have signaled to mediators that they are willing to negotiate a ceasefire once a truce is reached in Gaza, diplomats told The New York Times on Monday.

The Times, which cited three unnamed western diplomats and an Israeli official, reported that Hezbollah, which is backed by Iran, has said that it will stop firing rockets, missiles and suicide drones across the Jewish state’s northern border after Jerusalem and the Gaza-based Hamas agree on a truce outline.

Israel has indicated that it would be open to indirect talks with Hezbollah once the terror group ceases its cross-border attacks.

An Israeli delegation is scheduled to to renew ceasefire negotiations with Hamas, the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office stated this week. The Times reported on July 15 that talks with Hamas appeared to have gained momentum over in prior days.

Talks with Hezbollah would revolve around the retreat of terrorists from Lebanon’s southernmost areas and the deployment of Lebanese Armed Forces soldiers, the diplomats told the Times. Negotiations would also focus on demarcating the westernmost parts of the border between the two countries, they added.

Hezbollah has attacked Israel’s north nearly daily since joining the war in support of Hamas on Oct. 8.

It has fired thousands of suicide drones, rockets and anti-tank missiles at Israeli border towns, killing about 30 people and causing widespread damage. Tens of thousands of Israeli civilians remain internally displaced due to the ongoing violence.

Israeli fighter jets attacked a Hezbollah weapons storage facility in the Lebanese border town of Aita al-Shaab on Monday night, the Israel Defense Forces announced the following morning. The Israeli Air Force also struck Hezbollah terror sites in Aita al-Shaab and Khula.

Air-raid sirens were activated in towns across northern Israel on Tuesday, warning of incoming drones and rockets from Lebanon.

The Israeli army announced that several suspected suicide drones were shot down by air defenses, while other explosive drones hit open areas in the vicinity of Mount Meron in the Upper Galilee.

A barrage of terror rockets was fired from Southern Lebanon at the largely-evacuated Galilee panhandle city of Kiryat Shmona. The military said it downed most of the projectiles, with several recorded impacts around Kiryat Shmona and nearby civilian communities.

Hezbollah took responsibility for both attacks, saying it launched a “swarm of drones” and a barrage of Iranian-made Falaq rockets.

Israeli Education Minister Yoav Kisch told local leaders on Tuesday that evacuated students from northern communities will not be able to return to school in their hometowns after the summer. Instead, they will continue attending other schools around the country, Hebrew press reported.

The decision to cancel the start of the school year in the affected border towns is “regrettable,” Kisch said, urging Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to “act now and strongly against the state of Lebanon.”

“There is no escaping the decision to wage a massive war against Lebanon in order to restore peace and stability to the residents of the north and for the future of the State of Israel,” the Likud minister said.

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