Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire takes hold

Thousands of Lebanese head home, Hamas ready for Gaza truce

BEIRUT: Tens of thousands of Lebanese displaced by the war between Israel and Hezbollah began the journey back home as a ceasefire took hold on Nov 27, with many celebrating an end to the deadly fighting.
Announcing the ceasefire, Mr Biden spoke at the White House on Nov 26 shortly after Israel’s security Cabinet approved the agreement in a 10-1 vote.
He said he had spoken to Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Lebanon’s Mr Mikati, and that fighting would end at 4am (10am Singapore time).
“This is designed to be a permanent cessation of hostilities,” Mr 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 a period of 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, Mr Biden said.
Traffic on the road from the Lebanese capital Beirut to the south of Lebanon has been congested since the early hours, as thousands of people head back home.
Suitcases, mattresses and blankets – the necessities people grabbed as they fled and what they received in shelters over the past two months – were stacked on the roofs of cars. Some people hung out of their windows, waving the yellow flags of Hezbollah.
“What we feel is indescribable,” said one Lebanese driver on the road to the south. “The people have won.”
At one bakery along the highway, employees gave out Lebanese flags and small cookies with tiny banners that said “Smile, better days are coming” to customers.
Songs by the Lebanese singer Nouhad Wadie Haddad, known as Fairuz, blasted from the speakers.
“The songs we’re playing today are especially for this occasion,” Mr Abdullah Daher, manager of the bakery, Al Forno, said. “Even a week ago I couldn’t have imagined this war would end. Now, look, all these people are returning home.”
Lebanon’s army, which is tasked with helping make sure the ceasefire holds, said in a statement on Nov 27 it was preparing to deploy to the south of Lebanon.
The military also asked that residents of border villages delay returning home until the Israeli military – which has waged war against Hezbollah on several occasions and pushed around 6km into Lebanese territory – withdraws.
Israel said it identified Hezbollah operatives returning to areas near the border and had opened fire to prevent them from coming closer.
The agreement, which promises to end a conflict across the Israeli-Lebanese border that has killed thousands of people since it was ignited by the Gaza war in 2023, is a major achievement for US-led diplomacy in the waning days of President Joe Biden’s administration.
The deal is likely to enable Israel to focus more closely on the conflict in shattered Gaza, where it has vowed to destroy its long-time enemy the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas.
“Force must give way to dialogue and negotiation. This has now been achieved in Lebanon, and it must happen as soon as possible in the Gaza Strip,” French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot told France Info radio.
Lebanon’s caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati appealed to Israel to fully commit and “withdraw from all the regions and positions it occupied”, hours after the truce between Israel and Hezbollah was activated.

Hamas is ready to reach a ceasefire in the Gaza, a senior official in the Palestinian group said, hailing the ceasefire that took hold in Lebanon.
“We have informed mediators in Egypt, Qatar and Turkey that Hamas is ready for a ceasefire agreement and a serious deal to exchange prisoners,” the official told AFP, accusing Israel of obstructing an agreement.

President Joe Biden on Tuesday welcomed as “good news” a US and French-brokered ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, saying he hoped it could be a springboard to peace in Gaza too.
The deal will come into force at 4:00 am local time (0200 GMT) Wednesday, Biden said as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office announced his ministers had approved the deal.
“I have some good news to report from the Middle East,” Biden, who is due to leave office in less than two months, said in a speech in the Rose Garden of the White House.
“I just spoke with the prime ministers of Israel and Lebanon and I’m pleased to announce that their governments have accepted the United States’ proposal to end the devastating conflict between Israel and Hezbollah.”
Biden thanked French President Emmanuel Macron for his “partnership in reaching this moment.”
The deal is a rare boost for Biden as he prepares to leave the White House and hand over to President-elect Donald Trump on January 20.
The Republican has appointed some key Israel hawks in his cabinet, and his transition team suggested to AFP that the ceasefire showed that Iran-backed proxies such as Hezbollah “clearly see the clock ticking” down on a new Trump presidency.
“President Trump rightfully predicted that actors in the region would make moves toward peace because of his historic victory — and that’s exactly what we are seeing take place,” the Trump transition team said in a statement to AFP.
Biden said the deal was designed to be a “permanent cessation of hostilities” between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah, after more than a year of cross-border fire and two months of all-out war in Lebanon.
Under the agreement, the Lebanese army would take control of the border area on their side and “what is left of Hezbollah and other terrorist organizations will not be allowed… to threaten the security of Israel again,” he said.
The United States and France would ensure the deal was fully implemented but there would be no US troops on the ground, he added.
Biden said the deal “heralds a new start for Lebanon” but could also lead to wider peace in the tense Middle East.
The United States, Turkey, Egypt, Qatar and Israel would “make another push” in coming days for a ceasefire in Gaza, where Israel is still at war with Hamas following the Palestinian group’s deadly October 7, 2023 attack on Israel.
Washington would also push for a long-hoped-for deal to normalize relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia, he said.
US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin hailed the ceasefire announced by Biden as “good for Israel, good for Lebanon, and good for the security of the region.”
“This diplomatic resolution will enable tens of thousands of civilians in both Lebanon and Israel to return safely to their homes on both sides of the border, and to put an end to the violence and destruction of this conflict,” Austin said in a statement. Monitoring Desk