Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz rejected criticism of the latest agreement between Israel and Lebanon to attempt to implement a ceasefire and spoke of "great achievements in Lebanon, on the ground and in the political sphere," the news portal ynet reported on Thursday.
He said the new deal was "a reflection of the reality" Israel has created in Lebanon so far and could lead to a peace treaty with Lebanon.
In his interpretation, the agreement contained not only a commitment to disarm the Iran-backed Hezbollah militia and remove it from the area south of the Litani river, but also the continued presence of the Israeli army in a so-called "security zone" and its "freedom of operation."
Security minister slams deal
Israeli Minister of National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir had earlier criticized the agreement as a "serious mistake."
He described it as "the pipe dreams of advisers who are dragging the prime minister into incorrect decisions," in a post on the platform X on Thursday.
The agreement would in fact only make Hezbollah stronger, Ben-Gvir said. "In practice, Hezbollah will only grow stronger, and instead of defeating it, Israel is coming to terms with its very existence," he wrote.
He added that the Lebanese state was a "partner of Hezbollah" and was not capable of pushing the militia, which is hostile to Israel, out of the border area.
Ben-Gvir leads Israel's far-right Jewish Power party, which is part of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition. Katz is a member of Netanyahu's Likud party.
Israel and Lebanon had overnight agreed on a new path to implementing the ceasefire, which had until now been effectively non-functional. This was contingent on a complete halt to attacks by Hezbollah on Israel, according to a joint statement issued after talks between Israeli and Lebanese government officials in Washington.
Attacks continue despite breakthrough
Israeli attacks were continuing in Lebanon despite the renewed attempt to implement the ceasefire, Lebanon's state-run National News Agency (NNA) reported on Thursday.
There were at least two drone strikes in the morning on different vehicles in the south of the country, NNA reported.
