Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke to the press late Tuesday.
AFP
Israel approved a ceasefire in its war in Lebanon with Hezbollah on Tuesday evening, after more than a year of cross-border hostilities and two months of open war between the Israeli army and the powerful Lebanese formation armed and supported by Tehran.
The truce for which the United States and France have been working for weeks will begin at 2 a.m. GMT on Wednesday, or 4 a.m. in Lebanon, announced American President Joe Biden, who immediately welcomed the announcement of the agreement.
The ceasefire was approved in the evening by the Israeli security cabinet, Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said. Before this final green light, the Israeli Prime Minister had indicated, in a televised speech, that the duration of the ceasefire would depend “on what happens in Lebanon”. “In full agreement with the United States, we maintain total freedom of military action” in Lebanon, he said, before adding: “If Hezbollah violates the agreement and attempts to rearm, we we will attack.”
Intensify pressure on Hamas
A truce in Lebanon will allow Israel to “focus on the Iranian threat,” and “intensify” its pressure on Palestinian Hamas, against whom it is leading a deadly offensive in the Gaza Strip in retaliation for its unprecedented attack on Israeli soil on October 7, 2023, he highlighted.
Israel on Tuesday shelled the center of Beirut and its southern suburbs, a stronghold of Hezbollah, like never before since it launched a massive bombing campaign targeting the movement in the neighboring country on September 23, then began attacks there on September 30. ground operations in the south.
More shots in the evening
Shortly after Benjamin Netanyahu’s statement, another strike targeted a building in the shopping district of Hamra, in the heart of Beirut, noted an AFP journalist. For its part, the Israeli army reported new projectile fire targeting the national territory from Lebanon.
The official Syrian agency Sana reported Tuesday evening that Israeli strikes had targeted two border crossings between Syria and Lebanon, shortly after the announcement of a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah which will come into force on Wednesday in dawn.
International relief
US President Joe Biden and French President Emmanuel Macron said in a joint statement on Tuesday that Washington and Paris would ensure that the ceasefire agreement in Lebanon was “implemented in its entirety”.
“The United States and France will work with Israel and Lebanon to ensure that this arrangement is fully implemented and enforced,” the two heads of state stressed. “They remain determined to ensure that this conflict does not provoke a new cycle of violence,” they added.
The German Foreign Minister spoke on Tuesday evening of a “ray of hope for the entire region”. “The populations on both sides of the border want to live in real security that lasts,” commented Annalena Baerbock.
“The agreement must endure”
This ceasefire will require “considerable work” to ensure its sustainability, said the UN representative for Lebanon. “This crucial agreement marks the starting point of a critical process” to ensure the security of civilians on both sides of the Blue Line, the dividing line between Lebanon and Israel, and “considerable work lies ahead to ensure that the agreement continues,” declared Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert in a press release.
This is “very encouraging news, above all for the Lebanese and Israeli people affected by the fighting,” said the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, on Tuesday.
“Lebanon will have the opportunity to strengthen its internal security and stability thanks to the reduced influence of Hezbollah”, the powerful Lebanese formation armed and supported by Tehran, underlined the leader on the Bluesky social network.
(afp)
