In a rare diplomatic triumph in a region ravaged by two catastrophic wars for more than a year, a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah went into force on Wednesday after both parties agreed to an agreement mediated by the United States and France.
The Lebanese Health Ministry reported on Tuesday that at least 55 persons had been murdered in Israeli attacks on Lebanon on Monday, raising the total number of fatalities since October 2023 to 3,823.
Over the course of the last day, 160 more people were injured, bringing the total to 15,859.
Israeli bombings on Beirut, the capital of Lebanon, and its southern suburbs, as well as the country’s southern and eastern regions, had escalated in the hours before the ceasefire, killing and injuring hundreds of people.
Israel said it had detected Hezbollah operatives returning to locations close to the border and had begun fire to keep them from approaching, even though the ceasefire lasted for the most part Wednesday morning.
The army of Lebanon, which is responsible for assisting in maintaining the truce, announced in a statement on Wednesday that it was getting ready to move to the southern part of the nation.
Additionally, the military requested that residents of border communities postpone going home until the Israeli military, which has engaged in many battles with Hezbollah and advanced about six kilometers into Lebanese territory, leaves the area.
The deal is hailed as a significant victory for the United States in the final days of President Joe Biden’s administration and promises to put an end to a conflict that has killed thousands of people across the Israeli-Lebanese border since it was sparked by Israel’s invasion of Gaza last year.
Force must be replaced by discussion and compromise. French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot told Franceinfo radio, “This has now been accomplished in Lebanon, and it must happen as soon as possible in the Gaza Strip.”
After the ceasefire went into force at 0200 GMT, bursts of gunfire could be heard throughout Beirut, the capital of Lebanon. Since gunshots had also been used to warn people who could have missed evacuation warnings from Israel’s military, it was not immediately obvious if the shooting was celebratory.
Later, as they moved further south, automobiles and vans loaded with mattresses, bags, and even furniture poured through Tyre, a port city in the south that had been badly attacked in the final days before the ceasefire.
One woman was spotted flashing the victory sign with her fingers, while other automobiles honked and waved Lebanese flags.
The inhabitants were probably returning to many damaged communities. However, other evicted families told Reuters that they were hoping to avoid paying another month’s rent because they were under financial strain and renting out alternate housing.
According to some displaced people, they are still anxious about going back.
Father of four Hussam Arrout, who was originally from the southern border village of Mays al-Jabal and was displaced from Beirut’s southern suburbs, expressed his desire to return to his ancestral home.
The Israelis are still on edge and haven’t completely withdrawn. We therefore made the decision to hold off until the army declared that we may enter. After that, we’ll switch on the autos right away and head to the village,” he stated.
“Permanent pause”
Shortly after the agreement was accepted by Israel’s security cabinet by a vote of 10-1, Biden gave a speech at the White House on Tuesday. He declared that the combat would stop at 4 a.m. local time (0200 GMT) after speaking with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Lebanon’s acting Prime Minister Najib Mikati.
Biden declared, “This is intended to be a permanent cessation of hostilities.” “What remains of Hezbollah and other terrorist groups will not be permitted to pose a threat to Israel’s security in the future.”
As Lebanon’s army seizes an area close to its border with Israel, Israel would progressively remove its forces over a period of 60 days, according to Biden, to prevent Hezbollah from reestablishing its infrastructure there following an expensive war.
He claimed that normalizing relations between Saudi Arabia and Israel was a possibility and that his administration was also working on an illusive truce in Gaza.
Although Hezbollah has not formally responded to the ceasefire, senior official Hassan Fadlallah told Lebanon’s Al Jadeed TV that the group would come out of the war stronger even though it backed the extension of the Lebanese state’s authority.
“The resistance will gain thousands of members. The Israeli proposal to disarm the resistance was unsuccessful, according to Fadlallah, a member of the parliament of Lebanon.
“Steadfast… and victorious” was the caption for a photo of two men holding a Hezbollah flag in front of a partially fallen structure that appeared on the front page of the pro-Hezbollah Al-Akhbar newspaper.
Iran praised the ceasefire, saying it supports Hezbollah, the Palestinian organization Hamas, and the Yemeni Houthi rebels who have stepped in to stop Israel’s invasion of Gaza.
Esmaeil Baghaei, a spokesman for the Foreign Ministry, praised the development in a statement and emphasized his nation’s “strong support for the Lebanese government, nation, and resistance.”
He emphasized the need for the international community to uphold regional peace and stability and to put pressure on Israel to halt its aggression in Gaza, which has resulted in the deaths of over 43,000 Palestinians since October 7, 2023.
Israel has killed a number of Hamas and Hezbollah’s top officials and delivered severe blows to both groups.
Mikati of Lebanon welcomed the agreement in a statement. As Israeli troops retreated, the Lebanese army will have at least 5,000 soldiers stationed in southern Lebanon, according to Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib.
Netanyahu declared that while he was prepared to impose a truce, he would retaliate violently against Hezbollah for any infraction.
He said that the ceasefire would isolate Hamas, give the army a chance to recover and resupply, and enable Israel to concentrate on the purported Iranian threat.
“Rewind it by decades.”
Netanyahu also said that Hamas-affiliated Hezbollah was much weaker than it had been at the beginning of the war.
“We have destroyed most of its rockets and missiles, eliminated its top leaders, set it back decades, neutralized thousands of fighters, and destroyed years of terror infrastructure near our border,” he declared.
“The United States and France will join a mechanism with the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon peacekeeping force that would work with Lebanon’s army to deter potential violations of the ceasefire,” a senior U.S. official told reporters under condition of anonymity. According to the official, US combat forces will not be sent in.
Health officials said that at least 18 people had been killed in Israel’s campaign of airstrikes in Beirut and other regions of Lebanon in the hours before the ceasefire.
A money exchange office was among the “components of Hezbollah’s financial management and systems” that the Israeli military claimed to have hit. In the last hours, Hezbollah continued to fire rockets into Israel.
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