Biden Announces Israel-Hezbollah Cease Fire, ‘Permanent Cessation Of Hostilities’

JERUSALEM (VINnews) — Israel and the Hezbollah terrorist group agreed Tuesday to a ceasefire in cross-border hostilities, following a year-long conflict in the wake of the Oct. 7th massacre.

The deal entails the withdrawal of Israel to the international border and Hezbollah beyond the Litani river located a few kilometers from Israel’s border. The agreement allows for civilians to return to their villages in Southern Lebanon even near the border. Israel has claimed that it will have freedom to act militarily in any violation of the deal, such as Hezbollah transferring arms from Syria to Lebanon or attempting to rebuild its positions in southern Lebanon.

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.”

“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 attacks to solidarity with Hamas, 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 on Oct. 1.

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

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 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 previously honored a roughly week-long truce in November last year.

“On the proposal agreement brokered by the U.S. and France, Israel has all security concerns (addressed),” the European Union’s outgoing foreign policy chief Josep Borrell told reporters in Italy early on Tuesday, according to the Associated Press.

“There is not an excuse for not implementing a ceasefire. Otherwise, Lebanon will fall apart.”