Ceasefire Between Israel & Hezbollah Takes Effect After 1+ Year Conflict

A ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah has come into force in Lebanon early Wednesday morning, November 27, marking a significant pause in over a year of cross-border hostilities and two months of open warfare between the Israeli army and the Iran-backed Lebanese militant group.

The truce, which began at 4:00 AM local time (2:00 AM GMT), aims to halt a conflict that has forced tens of thousands of people to flee their homes in Israel and hundreds of thousands more in Lebanon.

The recent wave of hostilities has resulted in extensive bombardments of Lebanon, causing thousands of fatalities and prompting the deployment of Israeli soldiers close to the border to confront Hezbollah fighters.

The Iran-aligned group opened a front against Israel on October 8, 2023, just one day after an unprecedented attack by the Palestinian militant group Hamas in Israel, which ignited the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip.

Following the announcement of the ceasefire at dawn, residents from southern Lebanon and the Bekaa Valley began returning to their villages, creating convoys of vehicles, as reported by the official Lebanese news agency Ani.

U.S. President Joe Biden expressed approval of the ceasefire agreement on Tuesday, describing it as “a new beginning” for Lebanon and “good news” that the United States and France had been working towards for several weeks.

In an interview with Al-Jazeera released just before the ceasefire took effect, U.S. envoy Amos Hochstein stated that Israeli forces stationed two to three kilometers from the Lebanese border would gradually withdraw over the next 60 days.

“As the Lebanese army redeploys to the south, Israeli forces will leave,” Hochstein noted.

Hezbollah is also expected to withdraw its forces from the southern border with Israel.

The ongoing Israeli offensive, conducted in retaliation for attacks in Gaza, has reportedly resulted in at least 44,249 deaths, the majority of which are civilians, according to data from the Hamas Health Ministry, figures that have been deemed credible by the United Nations.

Source: Defi Media