Ceasefire in Lebanon takes effect after two months of open conflict between Israel and Hezbollah (2024)

After weeks of marathon negotiations, an agreement to silence the guns in Lebanon was announced on the evening of Tuesday, November 26, in a televised address by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Subsequently adopted by Israel's security cabinet, the ceasefire came into force at 4 am on Wednesday morning (Lebanese and Israeli time).

Negotiated by US special envoy to Lebanon Amos Hochstein, the agreement calls for a 60-day phase during which Israeli troops will have to evacuate the south of Lebanon, where they have been since October 1. At the same time, Hezbollah forces will have to withdraw north of the Litani River, some 20 kilometers from the border.

During this two-month phase, the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) will be gradually deployed in the border strip evacuated by Hezbollah, joining the blue helmets of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), whose numbers are set to be increased. The LAF is authorized to send between 1,000 and 2,000 men to southern Lebanon immediately, with a further increase to 6,000 over the next six months.

'Restore lasting calm'

Lebanese soldiers and UNIFIL peacekeepers will have to ensure that the scenario of the previous 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah is not repeated. UN Resolution 1701, which put an end to that conflict and called for the withdrawal of the Shiite militia north of the Litani River, was not implemented. To avoid such a recurrence, a monitoring committee, chaired by the US, will be set up, including an already existing structure, the three-member committee (Lebanon, Israel and the UN), which had become inoperative since the start of the war, as well as France.

The confrontation between Hezbollah and Israel began as a low-intensity confrontation on October 8, 2023, initiated by the Shiite militia in support of Hamas, which was being shelled in the Gaza Strip in retaliation for the Palestinian Islamist armed movement's attack on Israel. The conflict degenerated into open warfare on September 23, 2024, during a wave of extremely violent Israeli bombardments that killed over 500 people in 24 hours.

Shortly after Netanyahu's announcement, US President Joe Biden and his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron issued a joint statement welcoming the agreement, which they said would "secure Israel from the threat of Hezbollah and other terrorist organizations operating from Lebanon." According to the two heads of state, it will create "the conditions to restore lasting calm and allow residents in both countries to return safely to their homes on both sides of the Blue Line," which separates the two countries.

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