Ceasefire ending Israel-Hezbollah hostilities comes into effect

A ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah came into effect at 0200 GMT on Wednesday after U.S. President Joe Biden said both sides accepted an agreement brokered by the United States and France.

Bursts of gunfire could be heard across Beirut after the ceasefire took effect. It was not immediately clear if the shooting was celebratory, as gunfire had also been used to alert residents who may have missed evacuation warnings issued by Israel’s military.

Streams of cars began heading to southern Lebanon, which borders Israel, after the ceasefire early on Wednesday, according to Reuters witnesses.

The ceasefire promises to end a conflict across the Israeli-Lebanese border that has killed thousands of people since it was ignited by the Gaza war last year.

A vehicle transporting mattresses drives towards southern Lebanon on a highway, after a cease-fire between Israel and Hezbollah took effect on Wednesday.Reuters

'Permanent cessation of hostilities': Biden

Biden spoke at the White House on Tuesday shortly after Israel's security Cabinet approved the agreement in a 10-1 vote. He said he had spoken to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Lebanon's caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati, and that fighting would end at 4 a.m. local time (0200 GMT).

"This is designed to be a permanent cessation of hostilities," Biden said. "What is left of Hezbollah and other terrorist organizations will not be allowed to threaten the security of Israel again.”

Israel will gradually withdraw its forces over 60 days as Lebanon's army takes control of territory near its border with Israel to ensure that Hezbollah does not rebuild its infrastructure there, Biden said.

"Civilians on both sides will soon be able to safely return to their communities," he said.

Biden, who leaves office in January, said his administration would continue to push for an elusive cease-fire and hostage-release deal in Gaza, as well as for a deal to normalize relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia.

Iran welcomes deal, Hamas awaits ceasefire in Gaza

Iran welcomes the ceasefire in Lebanon, the country's Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said in a statement on Wednesday.

Hezbollah has not formally commented on the ceasefire but senior official Hassan Fadlallah told Lebanon's Al Jadeed TV that while it supported the extension of the Lebanese state’s authority, the group would emerge from the war stronger.

Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri told Reuters on Wednesday that the group "appreciates" Lebanon's right to reach an agreement which protects the people of Lebanon, and hopes for a deal to end the war in Gaza.

"Hamas appreciates the right of Lebanon and Hezbollah to reach an agreement that protects the people of Lebanon and we hope that this agreement will pave the way to reaching an agreement that ends the war of genocide against our people in Gaza," Abu Zuhri told Reuters.

Without a similar deal in Gaza, where Hamas is battling Isareli forces, many residents said they felt abandoned.

France, Lebanon welcome deal

French President Emmanuel Macron said on social-media platform X the deal was “the culmination of efforts undertaken for many months with the Israeli and Lebanese authorities, in close collaboration with the United States.”

Lebanon's Mikati issued a statement welcoming the deal. Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib said the Lebanese army would have at least 5,000 troops deployed in southern Lebanon as Israeli troops withdrew.

Netanyahu said he was ready to implement a ceasefire but would respond forcefully to any violation by Hezbollah.

He said the ceasefire would allow Israel to focus on the threat from Iran, give the army an opportunity to rest and replenish supplies, and isolate Hamas.

Hezbollah, which is allied to Hamas, was considerably weaker than it had been at the start of the conflict, he added.

"We have set it back decades, eliminated ... its top leaders, destroyed most of its rockets and missiles, neutralized thousands of fighters," he said.

Refugees seek return

Alia Ibrahim, a mother of twin girls from the southern village of Qaaqaiyat al-Snawbar, who had fled nearly three months ago to Beirut, said she hoped Israeli officials, who have expressed contradictory views on a cease-fire, would be faithful to the deal.

“Our village – they destroyed half of it. In these few seconds before they announced the cease-fire, they destroyed half our village,” she said. “God willing, we can go back to our homes and our land."

A poll conducted by Israel's Channel 12 TV found that 37% of Israelis were in favor of the ceasefire, compared with 32% against.

Both the Lebanese government and Hezbollah have insisted that a return of displaced civilians to southern Lebanon is a key tenet of the truce.