Israeli government sources told Israeli public television Kan that the deal for the truce in Lebanon «is closed». According to the broadcaster, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is now studying how to explain this to the public. However, the Lebanese media Lbci quotes a comment by the American mediator Amos Hochstein according to which the news about the green light being given by Israel “are not accurate”. In the evening, Netanyahu held a security consultation with ministers, Kan says. At the center of the discussion was the IDF’s freedom of action in the border area between Syria and Lebanon.
According to sources close to the American delegation, the TV states, Israel has received guarantees from Washington on freedom of action in case of violation of the agreement. According to Channel 14, a broadcaster considered close to the prime minister, Netanyahu made it clear in discussions with ministers that “the fundamental condition in the matter is that we will decide what is considered a ‘violation'”. The other issue, Israeli sources have been reporting for days, is the composition of the international supervisory committee in Lebanon. According to the Lebanese newspaper l’Orient du Jour, the truce would in any case only be temporary, pending broader negotiations on a definitive ceasefire. But while a stop to the war seems increasingly within reach – on 20 November Hochstein, speaking of a “real opportunity” to end hostilities, he said that the Lebanese government and Hezbollah had largely accepted the US ceasefire proposal, although with some outstanding issues – the war is not losing intensity: Israel has launched a series of airstrikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs today, Lebanese state news agency NNA reported. According to L’Orient du Jour, 12 buildings were hit. While according to reports from the Israeli army today several people were injured due to the launch of rockets by Hezbollah, which launched more than 250, including drones, during the day towards northern and central Israel. Hezbollah had previously claimed to have destroyed six Israeli Merkava tanks in southern Lebanon, five of them in the strategic coastal area of Bayada.