Israel, Hezbollah moving towards truce but issues remain

Israel is moving towards a ceasefire in the war with Lebanon's Hezbollah but there are still issues to address, the government has claimed, while Israel's ambassador to the US was quoted as saying that a deal could transpire within days.

Efforts to clinch a truce appeared to be advancing last week when US mediator Amos Hochstein declared significant progress after talks in Beirut before holding meetings in Israel and then returning to Washington.

Hostilities have intensified in parallel with the diplomatic movement.

Over the weekend Israel carried out powerful airstrikes, one of which killed at least 29 people in central Beirut - while Hezbollah unleashed one of its biggest rocket salvoes yet firing 250 missiles.

"We are moving in the direction towards a deal, but there are still some issues to address," Israeli government spokesperson David Mencer said, without elaborating.

Michael Herzog, the Israeli ambassador to the US, told Israel's GLZ radio an agreement was close and "it could happen within days ... We just need to close the last corners", according to a post on X, formerly Twitter by GLZ senior anchorman Efi Triger.

However, far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said Israel must press on with the war until "absolute victory". Addressing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on X, formerly Twitter, he said "it is not too late to stop this agreement!"

The conflict between Israel and Hezbollah spiralled into full-scale war in September, when the Israeli military invaded the south of Lebanon and bombed wide areas the country with airstrikes.

Israel has dealt major blows to Hezbollah, killing its leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah and other top commanders and inflicting massive destruction on Lebanon.

Israel carried out further airstrikes on the southern suburbs known as Dahiyeh, claiming it struck Hezbollah military headquarters and that it had issued advance warnings for residents to evacuate the area, which is largely deserted.

Hezbollah leader Sheikh Naim Qassem said last week that the group had reviewed and given feedback on the US ceasefire proposal, and any truce was now in Israel's hands.

Hezbollah has endorsed Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri of the Amal movement to negotiate.

Israel claims its aim is to secure the return home of tens of thousands of people evacuated from its north due to rocket attacks by Hezbollah, which opened fire in support of Hamas at the start of the Gaza war in October 2023.

Israel's invasion and bombing has forced more than 1 million people from their homes in Lebanon.

Diplomacy has focused on restoring a ceasefire based on UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which ended a 2006 Hezbollah-Israel war.

It requires Hezbollah to pull its fighters back around 30km from the Israeli border, and the regular Lebanese army to deploy into the border region.

Lebanon condemns attacks on UN peacekeeping mission

Meanwhile, Lebanon has condemned attacks on the United Nations peacekeeping mission (UNIFIL) stationed in its south, including last week's rocket strike in which four Italian soldiers were injured.

The 10,000-strong multi-national UNIFIL mission is monitoring hostilities along the demarcation line with Israel, an area hit by fierce clashes between the Hezbollah movement and Israeli forces.

Since Israel launched a ground campaign across the border against Hezbollah at the end of September, UNIFIL soldiers have suffered several attacks coming from both sides.

"Lebanon strongly condemns any attack on UNIFIL and calls on all sides to respect the safety, security of the troops and their premises," Lebanese Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib said during a conference in Rome.

Mr Bou Habib spoke before attending a G7 foreign ministers' meeting in Anagni, southeast of Rome, along with other colleagues from the Middle East, which was set to discuss conflicts in the region.

Mr Bou Habib added: "Lebanon condemns recent attacks on the Italian contingent and deplores such unjustified hostilities."

Italy said Hezbollah was likely responsible for the attack carried out on Friday against its troops in UNIFIL.

Lebanon's foreign minister called for the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1701.

"Lebanon is ready to fulfil its obligations stipulated in the above-mentioned resolution," Mr Bou Habib said.

"This literally means and I quote: 'There will be no weapons without the consent of the government of Lebanon and no authority other than that of the government of Lebanon'."

Hezbollah, militarily more powerful than Lebanon's regular army, has said it is defending the country from Israeli aggression.

It vows to keep fighting and said it will not lay down arms or allow Israel to achieve political gains on the back of the war.

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Iran's Khamenei calls for death sentence for Israeli leaders

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, which backs the Hamas and Hezbollah militants fighting Israel in Gaza and Lebanon, said that death sentences should be issued for Israeli leaders, not arrest warrants.

Mr Khamenei was commenting on a decision by the International Criminal Court to issue arrest warrants on Thursday for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his former defence chief Yoav Gallant and a Hamas leader, Ibrahim Al-Masri.

"They issued an arrest warrant, that's not enough... Death sentence must be issued for these criminal leaders," he said, referring to the Israeli leaders.

In their decision, the ICC judges said there were reasonable grounds to believe Mr Netanyahu and Mr Gallant were criminally responsible for acts including murder, persecution and starvation as a weapon of war as part of a "widespread and systematic attack against the civilian population of Gaza".

The decision was met with outrage in Israel, which called it shameful and absurd.

Gaza residents expressed hope it would help end the violence and bring those responsible for war crimes to justice.

Israel has rejected the jurisdiction of the Hague-based court and denies war crimes in Gaza.

The warrant for a Hamas leader, Ibrahim Al-Masri, lists charges of mass killings during the 7 October 2023 attacks on Israel that triggered the war on the long-blockaded Palestinian enclave, and also charges of rape and the taking of hostages.

Israel has said it killed Mr Masri, also known as Mohammed Deif, in an airstrike in July but Hamas has neither confirmed nor denied this.