The Israeli military said Tuesday its ground troops have reached parts of Lebanon’s Litani River — a focal point of the emerging ceasefire.

In a statement Tuesday, the army said it had reached the Wadi Slouqi area in southern Lebanon and clashed with Hezbollah forces.

Lebanon’s caretaker Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib said Tuesday he hoped a ceasefire to end fighting between Israel and Hezbollah would be agreed later on Tuesday.

Israel's Defense Minister Israel Katz told the U.N.'s Lebanon envoy on Tuesday that any breach of a ceasefire deal that the security cabinet is set to vote on would result in Israel acting "forcefully".

"If you do not act, we will do it, forcefully," Katz told envoy Janine Hennis-Plasschaert when meeting her in Tel Aviv, adding Israel would have "zero tolerance" when defending its security interests in the future, according to a statement from his office.

Residents of northern Israel – many of whom have been displaced by the conflict with Hezbollah, along with residents of southern Lebanon across the border – have expressed concern about the looming ceasefire deal.

A senior Israeli officer has resigned following the deaths of two people, including a 70-year-old Israeli man, in a Hezbollah ambush last week in southern Lebanon.

The Israeli military has launched an investigation into last Wednesday’s incident, in which 70-year-old Zeev Erlich was killed along with a 20-year-old soldier.

The U.N. rights chief is gravely concerned over the escalating conflict between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon and wants a "permanent ceasefire" there and in war-ravaged Gaza, his spokesman said Tuesday.

"The only way to end the suffering of people on all sides is a permanent and immediate ceasefire on all fronts: in Lebanon, in Israel and in Gaza," Jeremy Laurence, a spokesman for Volker Turk, told reporters in Geneva.

Israeli warplanes struck buildings in Beirut's suburbs and in the southern city of Tyre Tuesday, as Israel's security Cabinet prepared to vote on a U.S.-brokered ceasefire proposal aimed at ending more than a year of fighting with Hezbollah.

The Israeli army issued airstrike warnings for more than 17 buildings in Haret Hreik, Hadath, Burj al-Barajneh and Ghobeiri.

France said that "significant progress" had been made in talks on a ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon’s Hezbollah, urging them to seize "this opportunity as soon as possible".

"Discussions on a ceasefire along the Blue Line have made significant progress," the French presidency said Monday. "We hope that the relevant parties will seize this opportunity as soon as possible."

Massive explosions lit up Lebanon’s skies with flashes of orange, sending towering plumes of smoke into the air as Israeli airstrikes pounded Beirut’s southern suburbs Monday. The blasts damaged buildings and left shattered glass and debris scattered across nearby streets. No casualties were reported after many residents fled the targeted sites.

Some of the strikes landed close to central Beirut and near Christian neighborhoods and other targets where Israel had issued evacuation warnings, including in Tyre and Nabatiyeh province. Israeli airstrikes also hit the northeast Baalbek-Hermel region without warning.

The European Union's top diplomat said Tuesday there were "no excuses" for Israel to refuse to accept a ceasefire with Hezbollah, saying all its security concerns had been addressed in the U.S.-French-brokered deal.

Josep Borrell, the outgoing EU foreign policy chief, called for increased pressure on Israel to blunt extremists in the government who are refusing to accept the deal. Speaking on the sidelines of a Group of Seven meeting in Italy, Borrell warned that if a ceasefire is not implemented, "Lebanon will fall apart."