Tensions as Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire takes effect
A ceasefire accord has cleared the way for an end to a conflict across the Israeli-Lebanese border that was ignited by the larger Gaza war in 2023.
A view to the Lebanese side of the border between Israel and Lebanon, near Metula in northern Israel, during IDF operation to destroy Hezbollah tunnels crossing over into Israeli territory. Metula, Dec 05, 2018. Photo by Kobi Richter/TPS
A ceasefire between Israel and Iran-backed group Hezbollah has come into effect after US President Joe Biden said both sides accepted an agreement brokered by the United States and France.
The accord clears the way for an end to a conflict across the Israeli-Lebanese border that has killed thousands of people since it was ignited by the Gaza war in 2023.
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 Wednesday local time (1pm Wednesday AEDT).
“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 United States”.
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.
“In full coordination with the United States, 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.
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.
A poll conducted by Israel’s Channel 12 TV found that 37 per cent of Israelis were in favour of the ceasefire, compared with 32 per cent against.
Opponents to the deal in Israel include opposition leaders and heads of towns near Israel’s border with Lebanon, who want a depopulated buffer zone on Lebanon’s side of the frontier.
Both the Lebanese government and Hezbollah have insisted that a return of displaced civilians to southern Lebanon is a key tenet of the truce.
By: Jeff Mason, Maya Gebeily and Steven Scheer /Reuters
