War between Israel and Hezbollah: towards a ceasefire in Lebanon?

Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said ceasefire efforts in Lebanon and Gaza were at the heart of the Group of Seven meeting held in Fiuggi, near Rome, which brought together foreign ministers from the world’s major economies.

This is the last time senior diplomats from Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States meet before the president-elect takes office Donald Trump.

For the first time, ministers from Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and the secretary general of the Arab League – commonly known as the “Arab Quintet” – also joined to the discussion.

The Quintet worked closely with the United States to develop a plan “day after day” for Gaza. However, there is a sense of urgency as Trump is expected to implement policies that would favor Israel.

Antonio Tajani, along with other foreign ministers, appears hopeful of reaching a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hezbollah.

“We may be close to a ceasefire in Lebanon,” he declared. “Let’s hope this is true and there’s no backtracking at the last minute.”

The Italian foreign minister added that Italy was ready to play a greater role in maintaining peace in Lebanon in order to oversee the ceasefire agreement: “As far as Lebanon is concerned, Italy is very willing to be a protagonist, if there is an agreement, of course, from the Lebanese to supervise the implementation of the agreement”

He also noted that all diplomats condemned the attacks against UNIFIL, and proposed the creation of a double buffer zone on the border with “UNIFIL with different rules of engagement from the border to the river, and north of the river with Lebanese troops”.

Israel’s Ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Danon, said Israel is “moving forward” on the path to a ceasefire with Lebanon. Danon stressed that change would not happen overnight, “there will be some steps, some requirements.”

“You know, the most important condition for us is the withdrawal of Hezbollah to the north of the Litani. We have said it from the beginning: this will be our goal in this war. The agreement will then include other stages. In this Regarding the United Nations, as far as I know, they are not part of the agreement, but the presence of UNIFIL is important and we are grateful to them,” added the UN ambassador.

Italy’s foreign minister said another major discussion point on the G7 agenda was the arrest warrants issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) last week.

Antonio said that the ministers “must have a unified position on the decision of the International Court of Justice. We have spoken about it and we will see if the final communiqué will contain a section dedicated to this subject. We are working to find an agreement.”

Israel and Hezbollah continue to exchange fire as leaders move closer to ceasefire deal

Israel and Hezbollah have exchanged fire since Hamas militants attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, sparking Israel’s war in Gaza.

Over the past year, more than 3,500 people have been killed in Lebanon, many of them civilians, and 1.2 million people have been displaced.

At the same time, more than 70 people have been killed in Israel, including more than 40 civilians, and tens of thousands of Israelis who have been evacuated from the border are pressuring their government to return home.

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On Monday, the Israeli army launched several airstrikes in Lebanon, killing at least 31 people. Israel targeted commercial and residential buildings in Beirut as well as the port city of Tyre, areas considered Hezbollah strongholds.

Some of the strikes fell near central Beirut and near Christian neighborhoods and other targets for which Israel had issued evacuation warnings, including in Tire and Nabatiyeh province. Israeli airstrikes also hit the Baalbek-Hermel region in the northeast of the country without warning.

Hezbollah, for its part, fired at least 250 projectiles at Israel this Sunday, according to the army.