Israel, Hezbollah agree to ceasefire imposed by US and France, effective Wednesday Reuters
By Jeff Mason, Maya Gebeily, Steven Scheer and Simon Lewis (YES:)
WASHINGTON/BEIRUT/JERUSALEM (Reuters) – A ceasefire between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah will come into effect on Wednesday after both sides accepted a deal brokered by the United States and France, US President Joe Biden said on Tuesday.
The agreement paved the way for an end to the conflict on the Israel-Lebanon border that has killed thousands of people since the start of the war in Gaza last year.
Biden, who spoke at the White House shortly after Israel’s security cabinet approved the deal by a 10-1 vote, said he spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati. The fighting will end at 4 am local time (0200 GMT), he said.
“This is designed to end the animosity once and for all,” Biden said. “The remnants of Hezbollah and other terrorist organizations will not be allowed to threaten Israel’s security again.”
Israel will gradually withdraw its forces over 60 days as the Lebanese army takes control of the area near its border with Israel to ensure that Hezbollah does not rebuild its infrastructure there, Biden said.
“Citizens on both sides will soon be able to return to their communities safely,” he said.
French President Emmanuel Macron welcomed the signing of the agreement on social media X, saying it was “the culmination of many months of efforts with the Israeli and Lebanese authorities, in cooperation with the United States.”
Lebanon’s Mikati issued a statement welcoming the agreement. Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib earlier said the Lebanese army would be ready to deploy at least 5,000 troops in southern Lebanon as the Israeli army withdraws.
Netanyahu said he was ready to implement the ceasefire and would respond forcefully to any violations by Hezbollah.
Netanyahu, who faces opponents of the deal in his coalition government, said the ceasefire would allow Israel to focus on the threat from Iran, replenish depleted weapons and give the military a break, and isolate Hamas, the militant group that fuels the violence. war in the region when Israel attacked from Gaza last year.
“We will enforce the agreement and respond forcefully to any violation. Together, we will continue until we win,” Netanyahu said.
“By fully cooperating with the United States, we maintain full military freedom of action. If Hezbollah violates the agreement or tries to rearm, we will definitely strike.”
Netanyahu said that Hezbollah, which is allied with the Palestinian terrorist group, Hamas, is much weaker than it was at the beginning of the conflict.
“We pushed it back decades, eliminated … its top leaders, destroyed most of its rockets and missiles, eliminated thousands of fighters, destroyed years of terrorist infrastructure along our border,” he said.
The United Nations Special Envoy for Lebanon, Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, welcomed the ceasefire agreement in a statement, praising the parties involved in the agreement.
“Now is the time to deliver, through concrete actions, the consolidation of today’s success.”
A senior American official, speaking to reporters on condition of anonymity, said the US and France will join the UNIFIL peacekeeping force that will work with the Lebanese army to prevent violations of the ceasefire agreement. American troops will not be used, the official said.
Lebanon’s suspension came after a change in attitude on both sides in late October, the official said.
Biden, who leaves office in January, said his administration would continue to push for a ceasefire and the release of hostages in Gaza, where Israel is fighting Hamas, as well as an agreement to normalize relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia.
THE HOSTILITY CONTINUES ON TUESDAY
Despite the diplomatic success, tensions escalated as Israel stepped up its airstrikes in Beirut and other parts of Lebanon, with health authorities reporting at least 18 deaths.
The Israeli military said it struck “parts of Hezbollah’s financial management and systems” including a currency exchange office.
Israel issued additional warnings to evacuate on Tuesday, just hours before the strike began.
Hezbollah also continued to fire rockets into Israel.
Israel’s air force intercepted three missiles in Lebanon, the military said, during a barrage of missiles Tuesday night that prompted warnings in nearly 115 locations.
Alia Ibrahim, the mother of twin girls from the southern village of Qaaqaiyat al-Snawbar, who fled Beirut nearly three months ago, said she hoped Israeli officials, who have expressed conflicting views on the ceasefire, would stick to the deal.
“My village – they destroyed part of it. “In the few seconds before they announced that the weapons will be stopped, they destroyed part of our village,” he said. “God willing, we can return to our homes and our country.”
A poll by Israel’s Channel 12 TV found that 37% of Israelis support the ceasefire, compared to 32% who oppose it.
Opponents of the deal in Israel include opposition leaders and mayors of towns near the Israeli-Lebanon border, who want an uninhabited area on the Lebanese side of the border.
Both the Lebanese government and Hezbollah have stressed that the return of displaced civilians in southern Lebanon is a key point of the agreement.
Israeli Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, a right-wing member of Netanyahu’s government, said in X the agreement does not guarantee the return of Israelis to their homes in the north of the country and that the Lebanese army does not have the power to defeat Hezbollah.
“In order to go to Lebanon, we must have our belt,” said Ben-Gvir.
