It was not a conclave, but white smoke came from the Israeli security cabinet on Tuesday evening. Benjamin Netanyahu spoke from Defense headquarters to announce the formalization of a ceasefire in the war that has pitted Israel against the Islamist movement Hezbollah in Lebanon for 13 months. If the Israeli Prime Minister confirmed an agreement in collaboration with the United States, he immediately tried to reassure the skeptics. “We will not lose our response capabilities in the event of a ceasefire violation by Hezbollah. Any infraction will lead to a powerful reaction,” assured a “Bibi” with a resolutely warlike tone despite this future truce which should take effect this Wednesday morning at 10 a.m. local (9 a.m. in Paris).
According to the American news site Axios, the agreement is based on an American project providing for a 60-day truce during which Hezbollah and the Israeli army will withdraw from southern Lebanon, bordering northern Israel. It is the Lebanese army which would then regain sovereignty over the southern border of the country. Civilians who have fled these territories since the start of the bombings would then be allowed to return. Same thing for the Israelis in the north, which the leader of the ruling coalition emphasized in his speech. “A good agreement is an agreement that we apply. And we will apply it,” concluded Benjamin Netanyahu during his speech.
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