By Maayan Lubell, Maya Gebeily and Laila Bassam JERUSALEM/BEIRUT (Reuters) -Israel mounted waves of pounding airstrikes in Beirut on Tuesday as its security cabinet was due to discuss a ceasefire deal with its Hezbollah foes that could take effect as soon as Wednesday.

BEIRUT (AP) — Israeli warplanes struck central Beirut and the city’s southern suburbs on Tuesday, raising smoke over the Lebanese capital ahead of a planned vote by Israel’s leadership on whether to accept a U.S.-brokered ceasefire aimed at ending more than a year of fighting with Hezbollah militants.

In southern Lebanon, Israel said its forces reached the Litani River, a significant marker in the war. Israel has demanded Hezbollah pull its forces back north of the river.

Israeli strikes pummelled south Beirut on Monday, Lebanese official media said, and health authorities reported 31 people killed across the war-hit country, most of them in the south.Lebanon's health ministry said Israeli strikes killed at least 31 people on Monday.

Hezbollah fired about 250 projectiles into Israel on Sunday, a day after an Israeli strike in the heart of the Lebanese capital killed more than 25 people.

A U.S.-brokered ceasefire appeared to be holding between Israel and Hezbollah as some of those displaced in Lebanon by the fighting headed home. NBC News' Matt Bradley reports.

A ceasefire deal came into effect between the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and Hezbollah in the early hours of November 26, bringing two months of hostilities in Lebanon to an end. The country’s main roads have since then been jammed as people rush back to what remains of their homes in the south.