World welcomes ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, but concerns remain

TEL AVIV, Beirut, Israel — A celebratory gunfire rang out in the Lebanese capital Beirut on Tuesday night, marking the beginning of a ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon’s Iranian-backed militant group Hezbollah, ending nearly 14 months of fighting. It sank.

The ceasefire agreement was brokered by the United States and France and took effect at 4 a.m. local time on Wednesday. However, the fighting continued until midnight, with Israeli air strikes on Lebanon and continued into the night.

Underscoring the potential fragility of the cease-fire, the Israeli military announced that it had opened fire on suspects in the forbidden area and that the suspects had left just hours after the cease-fire began. Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said they were Hezbollah operatives in border villages.

President Biden and French President Emmanuel Macron said in a joint statement that the agreement “ceases fighting in Lebanon and protects Israel from the threat of Hezbollah and other terrorist organizations operating from Lebanon.” They said this would “restore lasting calm” along the border and create conditions for the safe return of residents of both countries to their homes.

After Palestinian militants led an attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, Hezbollah began firing rockets into northern Israel in support of Hamas. Since then, Israel and Hezbollah have been in a shootout. The fighting escalated eight weeks ago after Israel launched a ground invasion into southern Lebanon aimed at removing Hezbollah fighters and weapons capabilities from the border area, Lebanese health officials said. More than 3,700 people have been killed in Lebanon, with about 80 killed, officials said. in northern Israel, Israeli officials said.

The conflict has forced more than 1.2 million Lebanese, about a fifth of the population, from their homes, according to the United Nations. Israel estimates that around 60,000 people have evacuated from communities in the north to escape Hezbollah rocket fire.

Israel has also stepped up airstrikes across Lebanon in recent months, damaging homes and infrastructure, targeting longtime ruler Hassan Nasrallah, senior southern commander Mohamed Nasser, and rocket and missile commander. The group’s leaders, including Ibrahim Kubaisi, were killed.

Randa Slim, director of the Middle East Institute’s Conflict Resolution and Track II Dialogue Program, said Israel accomplished its military goals, primarily eliminating Hezbollah’s infrastructure. “Most of the border area has been destroyed,” Slim said. “But in addition to that, they wiped out not only the military command council, but also the political leadership, the senior political leadership. So these are serious blows to Hezbollah, and it will take a long, long time to recover. It will take a while.”

Many Lebanese have already begun trying to return to their southern villages, despite Israeli military warnings not to do so yet, as Israeli forces are still deployed.

In southern Lebanon, Patricia Taleb, 24, was driving Wednesday to a home she had previously been forced to abandon. “We know this is the last day of the war. We know it’s going to be okay in the end,” she told NPR.

For now, Israel is discouraging residents from returning to abandoned homes in the border area. Education Minister Yoav Kish said on Israeli Army Radio that it will take 30 to 60 days to renovate buildings and facilities damaged by Hezbollah fires before Israel can begin the return of Israeli residents. Ta.

Orna Peretz, an Israeli who fled Kiryat Shmona, a town less than a mile from the Israel-Lebanon border, told NPR that Hezbollah, founded during Lebanon’s 1975-1990 civil war, ” He said he believes he has been taught a lesson that he would never have endured throughout the entire period. lifetime. ”

“There was an inevitable agreement here because of international pressure, and we have a place to go back to,” he said. Alluding to the devastation Israel has inflicted on southern Lebanon, he added: “Lebanese people have no place to go back to.”

Ceasefire conditions

The ceasefire agreement requires Hezbollah fighters to withdraw from areas south of the Litani River for 60 days, effectively creating a buffer between the militants and northern Israel. Israeli forces are also expected to withdraw to the Israeli side of the border.

To ensure security in the region, the agreement calls for thousands of Lebanese government soldiers to be sent to the south, along with a United Nations peacekeeping force known as UNIFIL, according to a copy of the agreement obtained by NPR. A U.S.-led international commission will monitor violations of the terms of the agreement.

The agreement also calls on Lebanese authorities to prevent Hezbollah and other armed groups from attacking Israel. It also calls for the Lebanese Army and security forces to be the only armed groups allowed to operate in southern Lebanon, and for Lebanese authorities to prevent the rebuilding or rearmament of any non-state armed groups in the country.

Israel has promised to respond aggressively to any violations of the conditions. Israeli military spokesman Maj. Gen. Daniel Hagari told reporters: “Any violation of the ceasefire will be shot at.” He said Israeli forces “remain present in villages and areas in southern Lebanon, which will be withdrawn in stages in accordance with the agreement.”

“This is all about enforcement,” said Shalom Lipner, a Middle East expert at the Jerusalem-based Atlantic Council. “They are telegraphing that there will be no exceptions like in the past.”

“The stated intention is that if there are minimal violations, Israel will move to report this to an (US-led international) monitoring committee, and (if) Israel is not satisfied, it will take action on its own. ” he says.

Arab states of Iran and Israel welcome ceasefire

Iran, a major backer of both Hezbollah and Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip, said it welcomed the news ending its “aggression against Lebanon” after the US-French-brokered deal was announced in Paris. . Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghai emphasized Tehran’s “firm support for the Lebanese government, state and resistance.”

Jordan and Egypt each said in separate statements that Israel’s “invasion of Gaza” must stop. Jordan said the ceasefire in Lebanon was an “important step.”

Egypt’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement that Cairo hopes the ceasefire will “contribute to the start of a phase of de-escalation in the region.” The statement grants Israel “full and unimpeded access to humanitarian assistance, given the catastrophic humanitarian situation in the (Gaza) Strip, in addition to halting unjust violations in the West Bank.” I asked.

Saudi Arabia hopes the ceasefire “will lead to the implementation of (United Nations) Security Council resolution 1701,” referring to a previous agreement renewing UNIFIL’s mandate at the end of the 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah. said. Saudi Arabia called for “the maintenance of Lebanon’s sovereignty, security and stability, and the safe return of displaced persons to their homes.”

Palestinians and some Israelis in Gaza are worried

Still, some Israelis remain skeptical. “We still don’t know anything about this deal,” Abraham Moreno, a refugee from the village of Shlomi on the Lebanese border, told NPR. “I really want to go home, but I have very mixed feelings.”

And there are concerns about Gaza. Wala Hanuna, a 34-year-old Palestinian displaced by Israel’s nearly 14-month military offensive in the region, said she feared the Israeli military would be free to wreak further destruction on the territory. I was concerned. “I read on the news that Israeli troops fighting in Lebanon are going to Gaza,” she said. “The war here will probably last another year, and no one has any idea how to get out of this situation.”

The militant group Hamas, with which Israel continues to fight in Gaza, thanked Hezbollah for its “vital role in supporting the Gaza Strip and the Palestinian resistance movement, and its great sacrifices, including the death of Nasrallah.”

On the Lebanese side of the border, “Israel has destroyed entire villages near the ‘Blue Line’ border, so many internally displaced people may not be able to return home for months,” said David, senior analyst on Lebanon. Mr. Wood said. crisis group. The Blue Line is the border in southern Lebanon from which Israel withdrew in 2000.

Humanitarian agencies look to the challenges ahead

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, UNHCR, said fighting has restricted access to southern Lebanon, where more than 188,000 people live in more than 1,000 government-designated mass shelters, many of them in the largest They say they have reached capacity. “The heavy shelling also had a devastating impact on public services and infrastructure,” the agency said.

In a statement on the ceasefire, UNICEF said it hoped the deal would “bring an end to a war that has left more than 240 children dead, around 1,400 injured and forever changed the lives of countless others.” said.

“Urgent efforts must begin now to ensure this peace is maintained. Children and families, especially those displaced in shelters and host communities, can safely return to their communities. We must be able to return to ,” the official said.

Scott Newman reported from Tel Aviv, Israel. Lauren Frayer contributed reporting from Beirut. Kat Lonsdorf and Daniel Estrin contributed from Tel Aviv.

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