Ceasefire Between Israel and Hezbollah Begins

The Israeli security cabinet approved on Tuesday, November 26 a US-mediated proposal for a 60-day ceasefire deal with the Lebanese resistance group Hezbollah. The ceasefire has reportedly come into force in the early hours of Wednesday, November 27.

The hours which preceded the ceasefire were marked by intense airstrikes across Lebanon, including the Lebanese capital Beirut and its Southern Suburb (Dahiyeh). A four-storey building sheltering displaced people in the Noueiri neighborhood in central Beirut was targeted by Israeli warplanes. 10 people were killed and 35 others were injured.

Military and strategic analysts said that the Israeli escalation within the few hours before the ceasefire came into effect, aimed at portraying a “false image of victory” for Netanyahu. They also considered it as an implicit threat to Lebanon, on what the response would be like in the event of Hezbollah’s violation of the ceasefire deal.

In response to the Israeli escalation, Hezbollah also intensified its attacks on key Israeli positions, extending from Lebanon’s southern borders into the occupied areas. Hezbollah also foiled attempts by the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) to advance into Lebanese border villages and disrupted any major incursion from taking place.

Terms of the ceasefire deal

As per the terms of the deal, over 60 days, Hezbollah fighters deployed in the Blue Line dividing Lebanon from Israel and the Golan Heights and the Litani river, will be replaced with 5,000 troops of the Lebanese Armed Forces. Israeli Occupation Forces will also gradually withdraw its troops from that area and will have no role in peacekeeping there.

The US and France will join the existing tripartite mechanism, which involves representatives from the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), Israel and Lebanon.These representatives will monitor and ensure the implementation of the deal. They will also ensure that Hezbollah’s infrastructure or weaponry is removed from the area and cannot be rebuilt. This term was set in line with the United Nations resolution 1701, which stipulates that areas south of the Litani river should be free of any armed personnel or weapons other than those of the Lebanese state and the UN peacekeeping forces (UNIFIL).

The deal pointed out that the US will not deploy any of its troops in the area, but both the US and France will be committed to provide additional financial support, equipment and training to the Lebanese Armed Forces, as well as economic development throughout Lebanon. Safe return of residents in southern Lebanon to their homes, and Israeli settlers to their residences in north Israel should also be achieved through the ceasefire deal.

Israel’s right to strike back Lebanon, on the pretext of self-defense, if Hezbollah violates the ceasefire deal, is not believed to be among the terms of the agreement, as it was rejected by Lebanon. However, there is a possibility that the US will support Israel in doing so, based on Biden’s statements during his televised speech that followed the deal’s approval.

Netanyahu’s “false image of victory”

Following the Israeli security cabinet’s approval of the ceasefire proposal and hours before the ceasefire took effect, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivered a pre-recorded statement.

At the beginning of his speech, Netanyahu addressed Israeli settlers, who evacuated their places of residence in northern Israel as a result of the cross-borders battles between the IOF and Hezbollah.

Netanyahu has been unable to deliver on his promises through military operations for over one year in Lebanon and in Gaza, and now has had to accept a political solution represented by a ceasefire deal. In this regard, he said: “I promised you victory, and we will achieve victory. We will complete the elimination of Hamas, we will return all our hostages, we will ensure that Gaza will no longer pose a threat to Israel, and we will return the residents of the north safely to their homes.”

“The war will not end until we achieve all our goals, until we return the residents of the north safely home. It will happen, just as it happened in the south. My friends, the residents of the north, I am proud of you, your ability to endure, I am fully committed to your future,” Netanyahu added.

Netanyahu also claimed that the Israeli aggression on Lebanon succeeded in debilitating the capabilities of Hezbollah and “set it back decades” by assassinating its top leaders, and destroying most of its rocket capabilities and infrastructure near the borders with Israel.

Netanyahu’s claim has already been refuted with a surge in Hezbollah’s recent missile and drone attacks that reached sites deep into Israel, including in Tel Aviv. These attacks caused considerable damage to key Israeli positions, and further proved that Israeli air defense systems are not able to intercept or even detect Hezbollah’s drones.

Netanyahu’s bragging about his illusive victory was slammed by Israeli officials. While Israel’s National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir called the ceasefire with Hezbollah a “historic mistake”, Israeli National Unity leader and former war cabinet member Benny Gantz called it a “half job” being done as it will make it easier for Hezbollah to regroup. “We must not do only half the job. We must not miss the opportunity for a strong agreement that will fundamentally change the situation in the north,” Gantz said.

Meanwhile, former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett decried the ceasefire deal for lacking a planned buffer zone in Lebanon, labeling it as “a total security-diplomatic failure.”

US announced the ceasefire deal as a “permanent cessation of hostilities”

A few hours after Israel approved the ceasefire proposal, US President Joe Biden appeared in a televised speech, announcing that Israel and Lebanon have accepted the proposal and the ceasefire will begin at 2:00 AM GMT (4:00 AM local time), on Wednesday, November 27.

Biden clarified that the deal will prelude to a permanent truce between Hezbollah and Lebanon. “The fighting across the Lebanese-Israeli border will end — will end. This is designed to be a permanent cessation of hostilities,” he said.

Biden clarified that the ceasefire in Lebanon did not relate to the ongoing Israeli operations in Gaza. Analysts suggest that separating Lebanon’s battlefield from Gaza’s battlefield was one of the main factors that motivated the US and Israel to proceed with a ceasefire with Hezbollah, because this may put more pressure on the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), as it will be left alone in its confrontation with the IOF.

Nonetheless, it is expected that the Axis of Resistance led by Iran will find another way to provide Hamas with the needed support to continue with its struggle against Israel in the Gaza Strip.

Biden further promised to implement his vision for peace in the “Middle East”, represented by normalization between Israel and countries in the region during the remaining period of his term.

In his speech, the US president also emphasized that Israel will maintain its right to self-defense if Hezbollah violates the ceasefire deal. Biden’s statement came after Israeli media sources quoted Netanyahu warning that Israel “will respond with force” to any Hezbollah violation of the deal, as he was speaking with his security cabinet after Tuesday’s meeting.

“If Hezbollah violates the agreement and tries to rearm, we will attack. If it tries to rebuild the terror infrastructure near the border, we will attack. If it fires a rocket, if it digs a tunnel, if it brings in a truck with missiles, we will attack,” the Israeli Prime Minister asserted.

Why did Israel accept the ceasefire deal?

For around 14 months, the IOF has endured great military losses during its battles in Gaza and Lebanon, alongside unprecedented international isolation. Israel’s military and political defeat has recently aggravated after many countries called for arms embargo on Israel, and the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and his former defense minister Yoav Gallant over their responsibility for war crimes committed in the Gaza strip.

The internal tensions over Netanyahu’s government and its policies have been also mounting among Israelis, which made Netanyahu concerned about his future as a leader of the Israeli government. Netanyahu has been afflicted with numerous corruption lawsuits filed against him, his inability to achieve any of the goals he set for the war, and his failure to return the Israeli captives from Gaza. All these factors are said to have motivated the Israeli genocide-leader to play his last card by accepting the ceasefire proposal and claiming it a victory.