Israel: Ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah in effect

After more than a year of war between Israel and the Lebanese Hezbollah militia, a ceasefire has been in effect since early morning. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned the militia backed by arch-enemy Iran: “The duration of the ceasefire depends on what happens in Lebanon.” The ceasefire was brokered by the USA and France in order to achieve a “permanent cessation of hostilities,” as US President Joe Biden said. There was initially no reaction from Hezbollah itself to the ceasefire announcement.

Shortly after the ceasefire came into effect, gunfire could be heard in the Lebanese capital Beirut. The first people to flee southern Lebanon made their way back in cars to villages where there are no Israeli troops stationed. An Israeli military spokesman had written in Arabic on X that residents of areas for which there had been calls to evacuate were not allowed to return to their villages for the time being. “With the entry into force of the ceasefire and its terms, (Israeli forces) will remain stationed in positions in the south of Lebanon,” the spokesman wrote.

The Israeli Air Force continued to carry out particularly massive attacks on Beirut and the southern suburbs of the city until shortly before the agreed break in combat came into effect at 4 a.m. local time (3 a.m. CET). The Lebanese Health Ministry said at least 10 people were killed in the attacks in central areas of Beirut.

Heavy explosions could be heard all over the capital, as a reporter from the German Press Agency described that night. At 4:00 a.m. the explosions and the thunder of the fighter planes stopped. Hezbollah had also previously continued to fire rockets into northern Israel, where the sirens wailed again.

According to unconfirmed media reports about the agreement, the Shiite militia will initially withdraw behind the Litani River, about 30 kilometers north of the de facto Israeli-Lebanese border. Israel’s ground troops should then withdraw from Lebanon within 60 days. In order to prevent Hezbollah fighters from returning, soldiers from the Lebanese army, which is not actually involved in the war, will be stationed in the border area parallel to the Israeli withdrawal, a senior US government official reported.

It was said that the US did not negotiate the ceasefire with Hezbollah, but rather with the Lebanese government. They must now take responsibility for what is happening in their country. It is questionable whether it will be able to do this given the weakness of the Lebanese state. Lebanon’s acting Prime Minister Najib Mikati called for the agreement to be implemented immediately. According to the media, the ceasefire will be monitored by a group of states led by the USA with France, Lebanon, Israel and the UN peacekeeping force Unifil, which has been stationed in Lebanon for years.

The monitoring commission should also ensure that the militia does not re-arm itself. Israel claims the right to intervene militarily in Lebanon at any time if Hezbollah breaks the agreement and the Lebanese army and the international group of states fail to act. “With the full consent of the United States, we retain full military freedom of action,” Netanyahu said. “If Hezbollah violates the agreement and tries to arm itself, we will attack.” According to a senior US government official, Lebanon, along with Israel, retains the right to self-defense under international law.

French President Emmanuel Macron spoke of an opportunity for Lebanon. “It is important that this ceasefire is respected and that it is permanent,” Macron said in a video published on X. The agreement supports the country’s sovereignty and heralds “a new beginning for Lebanon,” said US President Biden. Federal Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock spoke of a “ray of hope for the entire region”. Hundreds of thousands of women, children and families in Lebanon could now find new hope, as could tens of thousands of people from northern Israel, the Green politician said in the evening.

According to its own statements, Hezbollah has so far fired on Israel in support of the Islamist Hamas in the still embattled Gaza Strip. Hamas triggered the Gaza war with the terrorist attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, and shelling from Lebanon began shortly afterwards. Originally, Hezbollah, which is allied with Hamas, did not want to end its attacks on Israel until a ceasefire was reached in Gaza. She now apparently waived the fulfillment of this condition.

An end to the war with Hezbollah would leave Hamas isolated in the Gaza Strip, Netanyahu said. "We will increase the pressure on Hamas," he announced in the evening. This could pave the way to an agreement on the release of around 100 hostages who are still believed to be in the Gaza Strip - although it is unclear how many of them are still alive.

Shortly before the start of the ceasefire in the war against Hezbollah, Israel's army announced the killing of another senior Hamas member. Mumin al-Jabari was a member of the Hamas brigade's sniper unit in the city of Gaza. He was hit in a precise attack on a building that had previously been used as a school. The Israeli military's statements could not be independently verified.

US President Biden is also calling for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. "Just as the Lebanese people deserve a future of security and prosperity, the people of Gaza also deserve a future of security and prosperity. They too deserve an end to the fighting," he said.

The US has been pushing for a ceasefire between Hezbollah and Israel for weeks. On the Lebanese side, many villages and neighborhoods were reduced to rubble in attacks by the Israeli army. In total, around 12,000 targets in Lebanon were bombed, the army said.

According to Lebanese information - which cannot be independently verified and makes no distinction between civilians and armed people - there were more than 3,700 dead and around 15,500 injured. It is estimated that more than 800,000 people were displaced by the fighting in the country, and hundreds of thousands believed themselves to be safer in the neighboring crisis state of Syria and fled there.

In Israel during the same period, Hezbollah attacks left 76 dead, the majority of them civilians, over 700 injured and extensive property damage. However, Israel's missile defense intercepted most of the militia's projectiles. Around 60,000 residents of northern Israel were evacuated.