Israel prepares Lebanon cease-fire plan as 'gift' to Trump: officials

One of Benjamin Netanyahu's close aides has told Donald Trump and Jared Kushner that Israel is rushing to put forward a ceasefire deal with Lebanon, according to three current and former Israeli officials briefed on the meeting, says the Washington Post.

The aim is to deliver an early foreign policy win to Donald Trump the Israeli officials revealed.

Kushner is expected to play an advisory role in the event of future negotiations over Israeli normalisation with Saudi Arabia, even if he is not appointed to a formal White House position, according to a former Trump official.

On Sunday, the Israeli official said, the conversations at Trump's Florida residence focused on an Israeli cease-fire proposal for Lebanon involving Western and Russian cooperation. An Israeli military official said plans were also being created to ramp up ground operations in Lebanon if talks were to ultimately fall apart.

The terms of the evolving deal, according to Israeli officials, would require Hezbollah fighters to retreat beyond the Litani River — the northern edge of a UN-monitored buffer area established after the 2006 conflict between Israel and Hezbollah. Since October 2023, following the Hamas-led attacks on southern Israel, Lebanese militants have used the region as a staging ground to rain down thousands of rockets and missiles on Israel, killing 45 civilians and 31 soldiers and forcing some 60,000 people from their homes.

Nearly 900,000 people have been internally displaced by Israel's expanding military campaign in Lebanon. More than 3,300 have been killed, according to the country's Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants but says hundreds of women, children and first responders are among the dead. Hezbollah said about 500 of its fighters were killed before the start of the Israeli ground operation, when the group stopped releasing a public count. More than 40 Israeli soldiers have been killed in ground fighting since Oct. 1, including six on Wednesday.

A person close to Hezbollah said the group would be willing to withdraw its fighters north of the Litani as part of a temporary cease-fire. The Israeli official said the Lebanese military would take control of the border zone for an initial 60-day period, overseen by the United States and Britain.

Lowenstein said Netanyahu could be aiming for a temporary agreement with Biden still in office, leaving a final settlement for Trump to take credit for.

"The one thing Netanyahu cares more about than Trump is his own domestic politics, and getting Israeli civilians back to the north is a major objective that he may not want to wait on," he said.

The broad contours of the agreement taking shape are similar to those in previous rounds of negotiations and align with Trump's expressed desire to put an end to Israel's multifront war, but the plan has yet to be formally submitted to Hezbollah, according to officials in both countries. And the proposal calls for the Israeli military to be able to operate across the border in case of violations — a nonstarter for Lebanese officials.

"Is there any sane person who believes that we will agree to a settlement or a solution that serves Israel's interests at the expense of Lebanon's interests and sovereignty?" Lebanese parliament speaker Nabih Berri said Tuesday. Berri, a Hezbollah ally, has served as an intermediary in negotiations.

The person close to Hezbollah said the group's "condition for progress remains clear: Israel must be prohibited from conducting operations within Lebanese territory."