Israel-Lebanon permanent ceasefire has been accepted, Biden says

Israel and Lebanon’s Hezbollah on Tuesday agreed to a permanent ceasefire in cross-border hostilities, following a year-long 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 perpetrated by Palestinian militant group Hamas in the Jewish state.

“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 on Oct. 1.

Hostilities had continued on Tuesday amid the diplomatic overtures, with Israeli military spokesperson Avichay Adraee announcing the Jewish state 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 in a Google-translated statement from his office that the Jewish state 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.”

 This breaking news story is being updated.