Tel Aviv, Beirut reportedly reach deal to end Israel's war on Lebanon

A senior Israeli official has said Israel's cabinet would meet on Tuesday to approve a ceasefire deal with Hezbollah, and a Lebanese official has said Beirut had been told by Washington that an accord could be announced "within hours".

US news website Axios, citing an unnamed senior US official, said on Monday that Israel and Lebanon had agreed to the terms of a deal, and a senior Israeli official said Tuesday's meeting was intended to approve it.

Israeli officials had said earlier that a deal to end the war was getting closer though some issues remained, while two senior Lebanese officials voiced guarded optimism even as Israeli strikes pounded Lebanon anew.

Israel's ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Danon, said Israel would maintain the ability to strike southern Lebanon under any agreement.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office declined to comment on the Axios report.

The US has pushed for a deal to end over a year of Israel's war on Lebanon that erupted in parallel with Tel Aviv's war on Gaza, but drastically escalated over the last two months, raising fears of a wider Middle East war.

A sticking point

In Beirut, Lebanese Deputy Parliament Speaker Elias Bou Saab said there were "no serious obstacles" left to beginning implementation of a US-proposed ceasefire with Israel.

Bou Saab said the proposal would entail an Israeli military withdrawal from south Lebanon and regular Lebanese army troops deploying in the border region, long a Hezbollah stronghold, within 60 days.

He said a sticking point on who would monitor compliance with the ceasefire had been resolved in the last 24 hours with an agreement to set up a five-country committee, including France and chaired by the United States.

A Western diplomat said another stumbling block had been the sequencing of Israel's withdrawal, the Lebanese army's deployment and the return of displaced Lebanese to their homes in south Lebanon.

Alongside the diplomatic flurry, hostilities have intensified: Over the weekend, Israel carried out powerful air strikes, one of which killed at least 29 people in central Beirut, while on Sunday Hezbollah launched one of its biggest rocket salvos yet, firing 250 rockets.

In Beirut, Israeli air strikes levelled more of the southern suburbs on Monday, sending clouds of debris billowing over the Lebanese capital.

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

"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.