Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire begins

(JTA) — Israel’s security cabinet approved a U.S.-brokered ceasefire proposal with Hezbollah, which ends more than a year of conflict with the terror group on Israel’s border with Lebanon.

President Biden said in an address to the nation after the agreement that Lebanon’s government agreed to the agreement, and that the withdrawal of forces starting then would take up to 60 days. The ceasefire took effect early Wednesday morning in the region.

“I’m pleased to announce that their governments have accepted the United States proposal to end the devastating conflict between Israel and Hezbollah,” he said from in front of the White House. He also thanked the French president, Emmanuel Macron, for helping to broker the deal.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu suggested that one reason his government agreed to the deal was his expectation that the incoming Donald Trump administration would be more accommodating to Israel. He also said future plans to counter Iran factored into the decision.

On Tuesday evening, Netanyahu said in a televised address that he would recommend that his hardline right-wing cabinet accept the deal. The deal — which would be the longest ceasefire Israel has agreed to since Hamas invaded from Gaza on Oct. 7, 2023, launching the current conflict — signals a new phase in Israel’s multi-front war.

“I am determined to give our courageous soldiers every resource to keep them safe and bring us victory,” Netanyahu said. “Therefore, this evening I will bring a ceasefire outline for the cabinet’s approval.”

The deal as reported would reinstitute the 2006 ceasefire that ended that year’s Israel-Hezbollah war, which required Hezbollah to retreat north of the Litani river, which is about 18 miles north of Israel’s border. Hezbollah disregarded much of that agreement, continuing to build up arms south of the river and launching rockets at Israel. Hezbollah began pounding Israel with rockets on Oct. 8, following the Hamas invasion, prompting clashes that intensified into a full-on Israeli invasion of Lebanon at the end of September.

The deal currently would reportedly be policed in part by the Lebanese army. It was brokered by the United States, France and other countries, and does not apply to the ongoing conflict in Gaza. Lebanese and international officials have also signaled optimism about the deal.

“We’re in the final stages of securing a ceasefire agreement for Lebanon,” U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Tuesday at a meeting of the G7 group of nations. “It will make a big difference in saving lives and livelihoods in Lebanon and Israel. It will make a big difference in creating the conditions that will allow people to return to their homes safely in northern Israel and in southern Lebanon.”

Blinken has been working intensively, and so far without success, to reach a ceasefire deal in Gaza. He said that the deal in Lebanon will demonstrate that Hamas “can’t count on other fronts opening up in the war,” which could dampen its will to fight on.

Biden in his remarks said the Lebanese army would assume control of areas Israel has cleared of Hezbollah. “Over the next 60 days, the Lebanese army and state security forces will deploy and take control of their own territory,” he said. “Once again, Hezbollah terrorist infrastructure and southern Lebanon will not be allowed to be rebuilt. And over the next 60 days, Israel will gradually withdraw its remaining forces and civilians.”

Hezbollah’s position was not known, but Lebanon’s government likely would not have given the deal the nod without the assent of the terrorist group or its backers in Iran.

One new wrinkle is that the United States would play a role assessing violations, Biden said, but this would not involve the stationing of U.S. troops in Lebanon.

In his own address, Netanyahu began by listing what he said were Israeli successes in what he described as a seven-front war, in which Israel is fighting in Gaza, Lebanon and the West Bank as well as directly with Iran and its proxies. Among the achievements he claimed were the decimation of Hezbollah’s forces and the elimination of much of its leadership. He vowed that the tens of thousands of Israelis evacuated from the Lebanon border would be able to return to their homes.

Then he listed the three reasons for agreeing to the ceasefire in Lebanon.

“The first reason is to focus on the Iranian threat, and I will not expand on that,” he said. Then he implied that Trump’s return to office could change the outlook for Israel’s military.

“The second reason is to give our forces a breather and replenish stocks,” Netanyahu said. “And I say it openly, it is no secret that there have been big delays in weapons and munitions deliveries. These delays will be resolved soon. We will receive supplies of advanced weaponry that will keep our soldiers safe and give us more strike force to complete our mission.”

Netanyahu in June said the U.S. government was slow-rolling weapons deliveries. Biden administration officials have adamantly denied any delay, beyond one on 2,000-pound bombs President Joe Biden did not want to deliver for the war in Gaza, because he said they were inappropriate for use in areas where civilians were concentrated.

“There was no policy to delay weapons to Israel for either Lebanon or Gaza operations, save the one shipment of 2,000 pound bombs,” a senior administration official told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. “The U.S. government was methodical in ensuring that the provision of U.S. weapons were not used in violation of our law or our policies. That takes time.”

Biden in his remarks squarely blamed Hezbollah for the conflict and noted the assistance his administration has provided to Israel.

“Let’s be clear, Israel did not launch this war,” he said. “The Lebanese people did not seek that war either. Nor did the United States. Over the past year, including the days immediately following Oct. 7, I directed the U.S. military to flow assets and capabilities into the region, including aircraft carriers, fighter squadrons, a sophisticated air defense battery to defend Israel and deter a common enemy.”

The Biden administration has sent reinforcements to the area whenever Iran has threatened retaliation in what has been an escalating series of attacks and counterattacks. The latest round came on Oct. 26, when Israel, heeding Biden, limited retaliatory strikes to military targets and avoided hitting oil extraction and nuclear sites. Trump, campaigning at the time for the presidency, said Biden should have greenlighted attacks on nuclear sites, although he did not say he would assist Israel in carrying out such attacks.

Netanyahu’s third reason, similar to what Blinken said, was to isolate Hamas. “With Hezbollah out of the picture, Hamas is left on its own,” he said. “We will increase our pressure on Hamas and that will help us in our sacred mission of releasing our hostages.”

Netanyahu did not say what the ceasefire would compromise, except to claim that it would not stop Israel from reentering Lebanon should Hezbollah violate its terms — and that would include not just the movement of forces across the Litani River, but simply the act of rearming.