Israeli national security minister Itamar Ben Gvir has called the ceasefire agreed between Israel and Lebanon a “grave mistake”, arguing that it would only strengthen the Iran-aligned Shia militia Hezbollah.
The minister has urged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to put the deal, brokered by the United States, to a cabinet vote. He set out his objections in a social media post published hours after the agreement was announced.
“The ceasefire with Lebanon is a grave mistake and a pipe dream born of a meeting of advisers who are dragging the prime minister into the wrong decisions,” Ben Gvir said.
He claimed Hezbollah had not left the area south of the Litani River, in southern Lebanon, and that the Lebanese army could not force it out. He also said “the State of Lebanon is a partner of Hezbollah”, despite repeated calls from Beirut for the group to disarm.
Ben Gvir added that Netanyahu should have rejected the deal in talks with US President Donald Trump. “There are moments when it is necessary to know how to say ‘no’, even to the president of the United States,” he said, warning that Israel would otherwise face a stronger Hezbollah in future.
The two countries agreed to implement the truce after talks in Washington. In a joint statement released by the US State Department, they said they would resume political and security negotiations towards a comprehensive accord in the week of June 22.
The ceasefire is conditional on a complete halt to Hezbollah fire and the evacuation of all its members from south of the Litani. The group had not commented at the time of writing.
The latest large-scale fighting erupted on March 2, when Hezbollah fired projectiles at Israel in retaliation for the killing of Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in a US-Israeli offensive on February 28. The two sides had first agreed a truce in November 2024, after 13 months of fighting.
