RIYADH, Nov 29 (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia has abandoned its pursuit of an ambitious defense treaty with Washington in return for normalizing relations with Israel and is now pushing for a more modest military cooperation agreement, two Saudi and four Western officials told Reuters.

Saudi Arabia has abandoned an ambitious defense deal with Washington in exchange for the normalization of relations with Israel. Now, Riyadh insists on a more modest military cooperation agreement, reports Reuters.

Saudi Arabia has abandoned its pursuit of an ambitious defence treaty with Washington in return for normalising relations with Israel and is now pushing for a more modest military cooperation agreement,

The ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon’s Hezbollah militants starts after nearly 14 months of fighting.

Israeli authorities may approve a ceasefire in Lebanon today, November 26. Then it will come into force on November 27, The Jerusalem Post reports. According to the agency, citing Lebanese media, US President Joe Biden and French President Emmanuel Macron are expected to announce a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah at 22:00 today.

For many across the Middle East, the Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire came as a relief: the first major sign of progress in the region since war began