Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire takes effect

Washington/Beirut/Jerusalem — A ceasefire between Israel and Iran-backed group Hezbollah came into effect at 2am GMT on Wednesday after US President Joe Biden said both sides accepted an agreement brokered by the US and France.

Bursts of gunfire could be heard across Beirut after the ceasefire took effect. It was not immediately clear if the shooting was celebratory, as gunfire had also been used to alert residents who may have missed evacuation warnings issued by Israel’s military.

Streams of cars began heading to southern Lebanon, which borders Israel, after the ceasefire early on Wednesday, according to Reuters witnesses.

The ceasefire promises to end a conflict across the Israeli-Lebanese border that has killed thousands of people since it was ignited by the Gaza war, which began last year.

Biden spoke at the White House on Tuesday shortly after Israel's security cabinet approved the agreement in a 10-1 vote. He said he had spoken to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Lebanon’s caretaker prime minister, Najib Mikati, and that fighting would end at 4am local time.

“This is designed to be a permanent cessation of hostilities,” Biden said. “What is left of Hezbollah and other terrorist organisations will not be allowed to threaten the security of Israel again.”

Israel will gradually withdraw its forces over 60 days as Lebanon’s army takes control of territory near its border with Israel to ensure that Hezbollah does not rebuild its infrastructure there, Biden said.

“Civilians on both sides will soon be able to safely return to their communities,” he said.

Hezbollah has not formally commented on the ceasefire but senior official Hassan Fadlallah told Lebanon’s Al Jadeed TV that while it supported the extension of the Lebanese state’s authority, the group would emerge from the war stronger.

“Thousands will join the resistance ... Disarming the resistance was an Israeli proposal that fell through,” said Fadlallah, who is also a member of Lebanon's parliament.

Iran, which backs Hezbollah, the Palestinian group Hamas as well as the Houthi rebels that have attacked Israel from Yemen, has not publicly commented on the ceasefire.

French President Emmanuel Macron said on social-media platform X the deal was “the culmination of efforts undertaken for many months with the Israeli and Lebanese authorities, in close collaboration with the US.”

Lebanon’s Mikati issued a statement welcoming the deal. Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib said the Lebanese army would have at least 5,000 troops deployed in southern Lebanon as Israeli troops withdrew.

Netanyahu said he was ready to implement a ceasefire but would respond forcefully to any violation by Hezbollah.

He said the ceasefire would allow Israel to focus on the threat from Iran, give the army an opportunity to rest and replenish supplies, and isolate Hamas, the Palestinian militant group that triggered war in the region when it attacked Israel from Gaza last year.

‘Set it back decades’

“In full co-ordination with the US, we retain complete military freedom of action. Should Hezbollah violate the agreement or attempt to rearm, we will strike decisively,” Netanyahu said.

Hezbollah, which is allied to Hamas, was considerably weaker than it had been at the start of the conflict, he added.

“We have set it back decades, eliminated ... its top leaders, destroyed most of its rockets and missiles, neutralised thousands of fighters, and obliterated years of terror infrastructure near our border,” he said.

A senior US official, briefing reporters on condition of anonymity, said the US and France would join a mechanism with the Unifil peacekeeping force that would work with Lebanon's army to deter potential violations of the ceasefire. US combat forces would not be deployed, the official said.

Jon Finer, deputy national security adviser in the Biden administration, told CNN that Washington would be watching for any violations of the deal.

“Implementation of this agreement will be key and we will be very vigilant to any attempts to disrupt what the two parties have committed to as part of this process today,” he said.

Biden, who leaves office in January, said his administration would continue to push for an elusive ceasefire and hostage-release deal in Gaza, as well as for a deal to normalise relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia.

In the hours leading up to the ceasefire, hostilities raged as Israel ramped up its campaign of airstrikes in Beirut and other parts of Lebanon, with health authorities reporting at least 18 killed.

The Israeli military said it struck “components of Hezbollah’s financial management and systems” including a money-exchange office.

Hezbollah also kept up rocket fire into Israel.

Israel’s air force intercepted three launches from Lebanese territory, the military said, in an extensive missile barrage on Tuesday night that led to warning alarms in about 115 settlements.

Both the Lebanese government and Hezbollah have insisted that a return of displaced civilians to southern Lebanon is a key tenet of the truce.

Reuters