PM says cabinet won’t vote on US-brokered ceasefire with Lebanon unless Hezbollah agrees to terms — report

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told government ministers in a cabinet meeting last night that he won’t call a vote on the latest iteration of the US-brokered ceasefire with Lebanon until Hezbollah has accepted its terms, the Ynet news outlet reports.

According to the report, ministers criticized the fragile ceasefire — which Israeli and Lebanese delegations agreed to renew during a meeting in Washington on Wednesday — and demanded that it be brought to a vote in the cabinet before Israel accepts its terms.

Netanyahu refused to call a vote, however, telling the ministers that “at the moment, there is no deal” because Hezbollah has refused to accept its terms.

“Hezbollah is opposed, and therefore I am not making a decision,” he said, according to Ynet, adding that “if it agrees, I will bring it for your approval.”

Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem appeared to reject the US-brokered ceasefire yesterday, saying that his group will keep bombarding northern Israel as long as strikes continue in Lebanon.