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Expected ceasefire with Hezbollah proving deeply unpopular in Israel

Around 55 percent of Israelis oppose an end to the fighting in Lebanon, with figures like Benny Gantz speaking out against the deal
An Israeli soldier sits in a tank stationed near the border with Lebanon in the upper Galilee area in northern Israel on 26 November 2024 (AFP)
By Lubna Masarwa in Jerusalem

The reportedly imminent ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon is proving deeply unpopular among the Israeli public, with several prominent figures speaking up against the deal.

The ceasefire, expected to be announced on Tuesday evening, would halt fighting for an initial 60-day period.

During this time, Israeli forces would withdraw from Lebanon and the Lebanese army would be deployed in southern areas close to the border.

Under the reported agreement, Hezbollah is required to end its armed presence along the border and move heavy weapons north of the Litani River.

Residents are expected to be able to return from areas they were displaced from in southern Lebanon and northern Israel. More than a million Lebanese have been displaced by Israeli bombing and threats, while Hezbollah rocket fire has forced 60,000 Israelis from their homes.

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Benny Gantz, the opposition leader who quit Israel's war cabinet in June, posted on X: "A good agreement will bring the residents of the north home - a 'ceasefire' will bring Hezbollah back."

In Gantz's view, Israel should be allowed complete freedom to act in Lebanon. He wants an arms embargo on the country, with an exception for the Lebanese army, and villages along the border to be demilitarised.

"You can't talk in terms of a 'temporary ceasefire'. The withdrawal of forces now, and the dynamic that will be created, will make it difficult for us and will make it easier for Hezbollah to regroup," Gantz said.

Gantz's position has been echoed across the Israeli political spectrum. Israeli newspaper Maariv spoke with several heads of local municipalities in the north who said they opposed striking an agreement with Hezbollah. 

“The possibility for a ceasefire with Hezbollah has been received with a great amount of suspicion, hostility and objection by the Israeli public, including residents in the north, in the media, and politicians from the ruling coalition and the opposition as well,” Orly Noy, Israeli writer and chairwoman of B'Tselem, Israel's largest human rights organisation, told Middle East Eye.

Noy said that for over a year, the Israel government has been promising a so-called "ultimate victory" in Gaza and then in Lebanon.

“The Israeli public, which actually support the war in Lebanon more than the war in Gaza, now feels almost cheated by its government for reaching a ceasefire before delivering an ultimate victory, which no one really knows what it should look like except that it entails a tremendous amount of death and destruction,” Noy said.

A poll published on Monday by Channel 14 News, which is sympathetic to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, showed that 55 percent of the Israeli public opposes the agreement with Lebanon, while 41 percent are in favour.

'Complete disconnect'

Gabi Naaman, the head of the local council of Shlomi, a northern Israeli village, said: "We will not accept an arrangement that will not provide full protection for our residents."

Naaman, who claims to represent many of the mayors in the north, said the government has ignored their demands, which include the establishment of a demilitarised buffer zone in Lebanon.

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He added that the council leaders are determined to fight the government's decision and have told their residents that "it seems that soon we will need your help in the just struggle - with the memory of 7 October standing before our eyes".

Eitan Davidi, chairman of the northern community of Moshav Margaliot, spoke in a similar vein.

He said the Lebanese villages across the border, many of which have been totally destroyed by the Israeli army, "have threatened us for many years" and "will belong to the past".

Davidi said that "there is a complete disconnect with the residents of the north" and the government does not pay any attention to them at all.

Discussing the Channel 14 poll, Yaron Buskila, head of Israel's Defence and Security Forum, a civilian organisation made up of former military personnel affiliated with the Israeli right, said that among its 40,000 members "there is wall-to-wall opposition" to the agreement.

Yossi Yehoshua, Yediot Ahronoth's reporter for military and security affairs, said: "Whoever clearly wins dictates rules for a ceasefire and if the other side does not accept them, then they continue to crush him. Otherwise it is not a victory and certainly not a complete victory."

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