US President Joe Biden announced on Tuesday that a ceasefire between Israel and the Iranian-backed group Hezbollah will go into effect on Wednesday after both countries accepted an agreement brokered by the US and France.
The agreement paves the way for an end to the conflict across the Israeli-Lebanese border that has killed thousands of people since it broke out in the Gaza war last year. Biden said this would mean a permanent cessation of hostilities.
Biden spoke at the White House shortly after Israel’s Security Cabinet approved the deal 10-1, and said he had spoken with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati. Biden said the fighting would end at 4 a.m. local time Wednesday (9 p.m. ET Tuesday).
“The legacy of Hezbollah and other terrorist organizations cannot be allowed to threaten Israel’s security again,” he said.
Biden said Israel would gradually withdraw troops over 60 days to prevent Hezbollah from rebuilding infrastructure there as the Lebanese army takes control of territory near the border with Israel.
“Civilians on both sides will soon be able to safely return to their communities.”
French President Emmanuel Macron welcomed the agreement on social media platform
Mikati, Lebanon, issued a statement welcoming the agreement. Lebanon’s Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib earlier said the Lebanese army was ready to deploy at least 5,000 troops to southern Lebanon as Israeli forces withdraw.
Prime Minister Netanyahu said he was ready to implement the ceasefire agreement and would respond strongly to any violations by Hezbollah.
Despite opposition to the deal from within his coalition, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the ceasefire would allow Israel to focus on the Iranian threat, replenish depleted arms supplies and give its military a break. It would also isolate Hamas, the Palestinian militant group that led the attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, sparking a war in the region.
“We will implement the agreement and respond strongly to any violations. We will continue to cooperate until victory,” Netanyahu said.
“In full coordination with the United States, we retain full military freedom of action. We will decisively attack Hezbollah if it violates the agreement or attempts to rearm.”
Prime Minister Netanyahu said Hezbollah, an ally of the Palestinian militant group Hamas, is much weaker than at the beginning of the conflict.
“We set it back decades, removed its top leadership, destroyed most of its rockets and missiles, disabled thousands of fighters, and destroyed long-standing terrorist infrastructure near our borders.” said.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in a statement that the ceasefire is a “much-needed step toward stability and security in the region.” He thanked France and the United States for their efforts to make this happen.
In a statement, UN Special Coordinator for Lebanon Jeanine Henis Plaschaert welcomed the ceasefire agreement and praised the parties to the agreement.
“Now is the time to consolidate today’s gains through concrete action.”
A senior US official, briefing reporters on condition of anonymity, said the US and France will participate in a mechanism with UNIFIL peacekeepers working with the Lebanese army to thwart any possible ceasefire violations. No U.S. troops will be deployed, officials said.
The ceasefire in Lebanon came after a change in attitude on both sides in late October, officials said.
A ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon is reportedly “very close” after months of escalating violence. Israel’s war cabinet is believed to be preparing to vote on the terms of the deal.
Biden, who leaves office in January, said his administration would continue to push for a ceasefire and hostage release agreement in the Gaza Strip, where Israel is fighting Hamas, as well as an agreement to normalize relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia.
Beirut airstrike
Despite the diplomatic breakthrough, hostilities escalated as Israel dramatically stepped up its air campaign in Beirut and other parts of Lebanon, with health officials reporting at least 18 deaths. Immediately after the ceasefire was announced, Beirut was again hit by airstrikes.
The Israeli military said it had attacked “components of Hezbollah’s financial management and systems,” including money exchange offices.
Israel issued further evacuation warnings late Tuesday, just hours before the ceasefire took effect.
Hezbollah also continued to fire rockets at Israel.
On Tuesday night, the Israeli Air Force intercepted three launches from Lebanese territory, leading to a massive missile barrage that put some 115 settlements on alert, according to the military.
Alia Ibrahim, a mother of twin girls from the southern village of Qaqayat al-Snaubar who fled to Beirut about three months ago, said she hopes Israeli authorities will stick to the agreement. spoke.
“Our village, they destroyed half of it. In the last few seconds before they announced the ceasefire, they destroyed half of our village,” she said. “If God wills, we can return to our homes and land.”
Opponents of the deal in Israel include opposition leaders who want to create a depopulated buffer zone on the Lebanese side of the border and mayors of towns near the Israeli-Lebanese border.
Both the Lebanese government and Hezbollah insist that the return of displaced people to southern Lebanon is a key tenet of the ceasefire agreement.
Israeli Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, a right-wing member of Netanyahu’s government, said on social media platform He said there was no. Overcoming Hezbollah.
“In order to leave Lebanon, we must have our own safety belt,” Ben Gvir said.
More than 3,760 people have been killed in Israeli fires in Lebanon over the past 13 months, many of them civilians, according to Lebanese health authorities. The air strikes forced 1.2 million people from their homes.
Hezbollah supports Palestinian armed groups and launched attacks on Israel on October 8, 2023, a day after the Hamas-led offensive in southern Israel. This began more than a year of fighting, which escalated into an all-out war in September with massive Israeli airstrikes across Lebanon and a ground invasion of the country’s south.
