Israel-Hezbollah permanent ceasefire has been accepted, Biden says

A permanent ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon’s Hezbollah is scheduled to begin Wednesday, following a yearlong conflict between the Jewish state and Iranian-backed groups.

President Joe Biden announced the deal, which was brokered by France and the U.S.

“Under the deal reached today, effective at 4:00 a.m. tomorrow, local time, the fighting across the Lebanese-Israeli border will end,” Biden said in the White House Rose Garden.

“This is designed to be a permanent cessation of hostilities,” he added. “What is left of Hezbollah and other terrorist organizations will not be allowed, I emphasize, will not be allowed, to threaten the security of Israel again.”

The neighboring Middle Eastern countries have exchanged fire since October 2023, after Israel launched an expansive retaliatory military campaign in the Gaza Strip in response to a terror attack in Israel by Palestinian militant group Hamas.

“Over the next 60 days, the Lebanese army and state security forces will deploy and take control of their own territory,” said Biden. “And over the next 60 days, Israel will gradually withdraw its remaining forces.”

“Civilians on both sides will soon be able to safely return to their communities, and begin to rebuild their homes, their schools, their farms, their businesses and their very lives,” said the outgoing president.

Earlier in the day Tuesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a televised address that he supported the ceasefire deal, which he sent to his Cabinet for approval.

“The ceasefire allows us to focus on the Iranian threat,” said Netanyahu. “We will complete the elimination of Hamas, the return of all the hostages and the return of the residents of the north.”

Biden said the United States had no plans to deploy American troops to southern Lebanon.

“This is consistent with my commitment to the American people to not put U.S. troops in combat in this conflict,” he said. “Instead, we, along with France and others, will provide the necessary assistance to make sure this deal is implemented fully and effectively.”

Hezbollah has attributed its hostilities to solidarity with Palestinian civilians, while Israel has cited the right to self-defense. The cross-border conflict has intensified since the summer, with Israel carrying out airstrikes that killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in late September, then proceeding with a ground invasion Oct. 1.

Hostilities had continued Tuesday amid the diplomatic overtures, with Israeli military spokesperson Avichay Adraee announcing in a social media post, translated by Google, that Israel was “extensively” attacking Hezbollah targets in Beirut.

Hezbollah, meanwhile, carried out missile strikes against an infantry training camp in Shavei Tzion in northern Israel, according to Hezbollah-aligned media outlet Al-Manar.

Speaking to the U.N. special envoy to Lebanon, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz called for “effective enforcement” from the U.N. if a ceasefire was implemented.

He warned in a statement from his office, translated by Google, that Israel will “act against any threat, anytime and anywhere” and that “every house in southern Lebanon that is rebuilt and in which a terrorist base is established will be demolished, every terrorist arming and organization will be attacked, every attempt to smuggle weapons will be thwarted, and every threat to our forces or Israeli citizens will be immediately destroyed.”

The diplomatic breakthrough had been widely called for in the international community, which has repeatedly also urged for an end to offensives in the Gaza Strip to rein in the growing humanitarian crisis. Israel and Hamas honored a roughly weeklong truce in November 2023.