Ceasefire agreement with Lebanon was a 'necessary evil': Israeli media
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Yedioth Ahronoth describes the mediated agreement for a ceasefire with Lebanon as a necessary evil amid the absence of any better alternative.
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Israeli soldiers walk next to a damaged animal farm hit by a rocket fired from Lebanon in Avivim, northern occupied Palestine, near the border with Lebanon, Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2024. (AP)
"The agreement signed with Lebanon is the necessary evil, the best tolerable option compared to the alternatives," Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth admitted, acknowledging that "it is impossible to rid Lebanon of Hezbollah, just as it is impossible to reach every tunnel, every weapons factory, and every warehouse."
Discussing the northern settlements, the newspaper considered that their resident settlers had paid a heavy price, stressing that while the agreement with Lebanon was "not perfect, no agreement is in light of the circumstances."
Yedioth Ahronoth then reiterated that Lebanon cannot be rid of Hezbollah, nor can Gaza be rid of Hamas.
In this context, the Israeli newspaper blasted the concept of "total victory" as inexistent, saying there exists "a need to acknowledge the truth: there is no absolute victory, nor will there be." Instead, efforts should concentrate and must begin to quickly rebuild homes so that northern settlers who wish to return can do so, bearing in mind that not everyone would, and certainly not within the first two months or even the first year.
According to the newspaper, what is currently needed is a move toward achieving a prisoner-exchange deal in Gaza, noting that "Life cannot return to normal without it."
Gaza must be next in line
Just a day after the Israeli cabinet agreed to a mediated ceasefire agreement with Lebanon, family members of Israeli captives held in the Gaza Strip, since October 7, 2023, temporarily blocked the entrance to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Knesset office on Wednesday, Israeli media reported.
Protesters demanded that Netanyahu meet with them and finalize a prisoner-exchange deal to retrieve the captives, estimated at 101 individuals.
One settler, a relative of one of the captives, said that just as Netanyahu had agreed to a ceasefire to stop fighting Lebanon he should do the same in Gaza as well.
Meanwhile, US national security advisor Jake Sullivan said that President Joe Biden will restart his push to secure a ceasefire in Gaza and a captive agreement on Wednesday after a ceasefire took effect in Lebanon.
Biden noted on Tuesday that the US, Turkiye, Egypt, Qatar, and the Israeli occupation entity would "make another push" in the coming days for a ceasefire.
He expressed that the people of Gaza “deserve an end of the fighting and displacement," as Israeli airstrikes continue to target the besieged Palestinian Strip.
