Israel approved this Tuesday evening a ceasefire in its war in Lebanon with Hezbollah. This truce will come into force on Wednesday morning, according to Washington, after more than a year of cross-border hostilities and two months of open war between the Israeli army and the Lebanese Islamist movement.
The truce for which the United States and France have been working for weeks will start at 2 a.m. GMT (4 a.m. in Beirut) Wednesday, the American president announced. In a joint statement with France, Joe Biden indicated that Washington and Paris would ensure that this ceasefire agreement was “fully implemented and enforced“.
Length of ceasefire will depend “on what happens in Lebanon,” Israel warns
The ceasefire was approved in the evening by the Israeli security cabinetBenjamin Netanyahu's office said. Before this final green light, the latter indicated that the duration of the ceasefire would depend “of what will happen in Lebanon”. “In full agreement with the United States, we maintain complete freedom of military action” in Lebanon, he added: “If Hezbollah violates the agreement and tries to rearm, we will attack.”
A truce in Lebanon will allow Israel to “focus on the Iranian threat“, and”intensifier” its pressure on Palestinian Hamas, against which it is leading a deadly offensive in the Gaza Strip in retaliation for its unprecedented attack on Israeli soil on October 7, 2023he highlighted.
Joe Biden and Emmanuel Macron assured that this ceasefire agreement “would protect“Israel of the”menace” you Hezbollah. “The United States and France are committed to playing a leading role in supporting international efforts to strengthen the capabilities of the Lebanese Armed Forces and foster economic development throughout Lebanon in order to promote stability and prosperity in the region”they added.
This truce is a “fundamental step“towards regional stabilityfor his part underlined the Lebanese Prime Minister. Najib Mikati indicated that his government was committed to “strengthen the presence of the army in the south of the country”a stronghold of the Lebanese Islamist movement.
The United States will lead a new initiative for a ceasefire in Gaza
Joe Biden also affirmed that the United States would lead new initiative to achieve ceasefire in Gaza. “In the coming days, the United States will renew an effort with Turkey, Egypt, Qatar, Israel and other countries to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza, the release of hostages and the end of the war without Hamas in power”declared the American president.
The war was sparked by the Hamas attack in Israel on October 7, 2023, which resulted in the deaths of 1,207 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP count based on official data, including hostages killed or dead. in captivity. The Israeli offensive carried out in retaliation in Gaza left at least 44,249 dead, the majority civilians, according to data from the Hamas Ministry of Health, deemed reliable by the UN.
