Israel-Lebanon cease-fire comes to effect

Agency report

The cease-fire between Israel and Lebanon came into effect at 4am, setting the stage for a 60-day period in which the full truce will be implemented.

Medics in Gaza said IDF strikes across the Strip killed 15 people, some of them in a school housing displaced people. President Joe Biden said the U.S. would make another push for a Gaza cease-fire/hostage deal in the coming days. France’s Foreign Ministry noted that Netanyahu may be entitled to immunity from the ICC arrest warrant issued for him, as Israel has not ratified the Rome Statute that established the Court.

Highlight of details

148 days into the war, President Joe Biden announced on Tuesday evening that a cease-fire deal had been reached to bring the conflict in Lebanon between Israel and Hezbollah to an end.

• Israel’s cabinet approved the cease-fire on Tuesday night by a majority of 10 ministers to one, Netanyahu’s office announced, with far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir voting against the deal.

• In accordance with the cease-fire agreement, a 60-day period will be set for the truce’s full implementation, during which Israel will gradually withdraw its forces as Lebanon’s army takes control of land near its southern border to ensure Hezbollah does not rebuild its infrastructure there. The U.S., Israel and Lebanon will also establish a joint monitoring and enforcement mechanism to ensure the deal’s provisions are upheld. Both Israel and Lebanon will be able to report any violations to the monitoring commission.

• While the Prime Minister’s Office claimed that the Biden administration threatened Israel with an arms embargo and refusal to use its UN veto if the deal was not signed, Washington said that Netanyahu was a full partner in formulating the agreement.

• Before the cease-fire entered effect, Hezbollah fired a number of rockets and drones targeted northern Israel, with some intercepted. A bus station in the northern Israeli town of Kiryat Shmona sustained a direct hit. No casualties were reported.

• The IDF said it had attacked dozens of terror infrastructure targets across Lebanon and along the Lebanon-Syria border prior to the announcement of the truce. The IDF’s Arabic-language spokesman, Avichay Adraee, warned residents in several buildings in Beirut to evacuate twice on Tuesday night.

• Lebanon’s caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati appealed to Israel on Wednesday to “withdraw from all the regions and positions it occupied,” hours after the truce took effect. The IDF said it fired at suspects that entered a no-go zone in southern Lebanon, and that four suspects were arrested and questioned after approaching troops.

• Netanyahu’s office said that he instructed the IDF to prevent people from entering the border villages in southern Lebanon, “in line with the first phase of the cease-fire plan.” It also added that the four suspects arrested were Hezbollah operatives, including a local commander, who had entered a restricted area.

• The Lebanese army announced that its forces are moving south of the Litani River in accordance with the implementation of the truce agreement. Lebanon’s Defense Minister Maurice Sleem told Al Jazeera that the Lebanese army will increase its deployments in the south to 10,000 troops. He added that the cease-fire agreement said that the “only forces authorized to carry arms in Lebanon” are “official military and security forces.”

• Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri said on Wednesday that the group “appreciates” Lebanon’s right to reach an agreement that protects its people, and it hopes for a deal to end the war in Gaza.

• Italy, Iran, Turkey and Egypt said they welcomed the news of a cease-fire, and Cyprus said it is willing to assist in any way possible to help implement the truce. Turkey’s President Tayyip Erdogan also added that Ankara is ready to help establish a lasting cease-fire in Gaza. Qatar said it hopes the Lebanon cease-fire deal will lead to a similar one in Gaza, with Jordan adding that the Hezbollah deal should prompt greater international efforts to end the Gaza war.

• The IDF said that throughout the war, its air force eliminated about 70 percent of Hezbollah’s drones, as well as approximately 30 cruise missiles. It added that the entire command chain of Hezbollah’s aerial unit was killed.

“We are also like hostages in the hands of Hezbollah, which might agree to a cease-fire. The situation will calm down for a month, two months, even three months – but everything is fragile, and the organization might attack Israel again, encouraged by Iran.” – Mariam, a 38-year-old from Beirut, tells Sheren Falah Saab

* Haaretz