Ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon begins

Jerusalem: Israel and Hezbollah began a ceasefire on Wednesday in a major step towards ending nearly 14 months of fighting, as a region on edge wonders whether the truce will hold.

Some celebratory gunshots could be heard in Beirut’s southern suburbs, battered over the past two months, but no immediate violations of the ceasefire were reported. Israel has said it will attack if the Lebanese militant group breaks the agreement.

Long-displaced residents started returning to their homes, with hundreds of cars making their way into southern Lebanon amid the celebrations, defying a warning from the Israeli military to stay away from previously evacuated areas.

A man who is returning to his village waves as he carries his belongings on his car after the ceasefire.Credit: AP

The ceasefire calls for an initial two-month halt to fighting and requires Hezbollah to end its armed presence in southern Lebanon, while Israeli troops are to return to their side of the border. Thousands of additional Lebanese troops and UN peacekeepers would deploy in the south, and an international panel headed by the United States would monitor compliance. Hezbollah would end its armed presence along the border south of the Litani River.

The ceasefire began at 4am on Wednesday (1pm AEDT), a day after Israel carried out its most intense wave of air strikes in Beirut since the start of the conflict that, in recent weeks, turned into all-out war. At least 42 people were killed in strikes across the country, according to local authorities.

US President Joe Biden spoke at the White House on Tuesday soon after Israel’s security cabinet approved the agreement – brokered by the US and France – in a 10-1 vote.

The accord, clearing the way for an end to a conflict that has killed thousands of people since it was ignited by Israel’s Swords of Iron offensive in Gaza last year, was designed to be a permanent cessation of hostilities, Biden said.

People celebrate after the ceasefire. Credit: AP

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

French President Emmanuel Macron said on 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”.

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.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu discusses the ceasefire.Credit: AP

“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 and the Houthi rebels who have attacked Israel from Yemen, said it welcomed the ceasefire.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier said he would respond forcefully to any violation of the deal by Hezbollah, declaring Israel would retain “complete military freedom of action”.

Lebanese Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib said the Lebanese army would be ready to deploy at least 5000 troops in southern Lebanon as Israeli troops withdraw, and that the US could play a role in rebuilding infrastructure destroyed by Israeli strikes.

Foreign Minister Penny Wong welcomed the deal, saying it should be the catalyst for an end to conflict in the Middle East.

The site of an Israeli airstrike on Beirut, Lebanon, on Tuesday.Credit: AP

“We’ve been calling for a ceasefire in Gaza for over 11 months now, and we see every week the death toll rising, more children, more women,” she told reporters in Canberra on Wednesday.

“But today we are very pleased to see that there is a ceasefire with Hezbollah and that the people of Lebanon and Israel can know some peace.”

Foreign ministers from the G7 threw their support behind the ceasefire but sidestepped whether to enforce an international arrest warrant for Netanyahu over the war in Gaza.

In the final communique from their meeting in Fiuggi, Italy, they demanded Israel “facilitate full, rapid, safe and unhindered humanitarian assistance in all its forms” to Palestinians in Gaza, warning that its year-long assault had led to unprecedented food insecurity.

Biden expressed hope that the pause in more than 13 months of fighting would be a catalyst to also end the war in Gaza.

US President Joe Biden speaks in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, DC.Credit: Bloomberg

He stressed that Israel reserved the right to quickly resume operations in Lebanon if Hezbollah breaks the terms of the truce.

In his address, Netanyahu said there were three reasons to pursue a ceasefire: to focus on Iran; replenish depleted arms supplies and give the army a rest; and to isolate Hamas, the militant group that launched an attack on Israel from Gaza in October last year.

He said Hezbollah, which is backed by Iran and allied to Hamas, was considerably weaker than it had been at the start of the conflict.

“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.

“We targeted strategic objectives across Lebanon, shaking Beirut to its core.”

Reuters, AP, AAP

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