Joe Biden announced a long-awaited ceasefire to end fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, in what he called a “historic” deal to end the 14-month war.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahuhad approved an imminent ceasefire in the country’s war with the Lebanese group after his full cabinet approved the deal on Tuesday night despite opposition from his far-right allies.
In televised remarks after Israel’s security cabinet met to vote on the 60-day ceasefire proposal, Netanyahu said he was ready to implement the deal, but added that Israel would retain “full military freedom of action” in case of violation by Hezbollah.
“We will enforce the agreement and will respond vigorously to any violation.” Together we will continue to victory,” Netanyahu said.
French President Emmanuel Macron, who helped broker the truce, is expected to speak on Tuesday.
In remarks from the Rose Garden of the White House, Biden said: “Under the agreement reached today, effective at 4 a.m. tomorrow local time, fighting across the border between Lebanon and Israel will cease.” He repeated the last two words, “It will end.”
“This is intended to be a permanent cessation of hostilities. What remains of Hezbollah and other terrorist organizations will not be allowed, I stress, will not be allowed to threaten Israel’s security again,” he said.
Biden said that US troops would not be committed to the border between Israel and Lebanonbut that “we, along with France and others, will provide the necessary assistance to ensure that this deal is carried out fully and effectively.”
The deal follows months of international lobbying by the Biden administration, which has made desperate efforts to stop the fighting but regularly failed after promising a deal was inevitable.
The US is expected to be a key guarantor of the deal’s security. The cease-fire signing comes with less than two months left in the Biden administration, meaning President-elect Donald Trump could continue to support or overturn the deal when he takes office on January 20.
Netanyahu said there were three reasons to pursue a ceasefire: to focus on the threat from Iran; replenishment of depleted weapon stocks and rest of tired reservists; and to isolate Hamas, the Palestinian militant group that sparked a war in the region when it attacked Israel on October 7 last year.
Importantly for Israel, Hezbollah dropped its demand that a cease-fire in Lebanon depend on an end to fighting in Gaza.
Netanyahu noted what he said was the group’s weakness after 13 months of fighting, saying: “We have put [Hezbollah] going back decades, eliminated… its top leaders, destroyed most of its missiles and rockets, neutralized thousands of fighters, and wiped out years of terrorist infrastructure near our border.
The deal is expected to take effect at 02:00 GMT on Wednesday. Biden administration officials said the talks continued into Monday night and that while the discussions were “very constructive” that “nothing is done until everything is done.” Nothing is agreed until everything is agreed.
Israel TV reported that the security cabinet had approved the proposal and that it would be presented to the wider cabinet later on Tuesday evening. Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati is also expected to make a statement later on Tuesday.
Far-right Israeli minister Itamar Ben-Gvir wrote on social media that he opposed the agreement, calling it a “historic mistake”. He said Israel “must trust no one but itself” and predicted that this would soon lead to renewed fighting with Hezbollah in Lebanon.
But he has not threatened to withdraw from Netanyahu’s ruling coalition, indicating that the Israeli prime minister may be able to contain discontent on the right wing of his ruling coalition.
Hezbollah began firing rockets at Israel in support of its ally Hamas a day after the Palestinian group attacked Israel, sparking the regional conflagration.
The conflict on the Blue Line – a demarcation line separating Lebanon from Israel – escalated in late September when hundreds of Hezbollah pagers exploded in an attack attributed to Israel. Israel then killed much of Hezbollah’s leadership with airstrikes and launched a ground invasion of southern Lebanon.
Under the terms of the deal, Israel will withdraw entirely from southern Lebanon, while Hezbollah will move its heavy weapons north of the Litani River, about 16 miles (25 km) north of the border.
During a 60-day transition phase, the Lebanese army will deploy to the buffer border area alongside existing UN peacekeeping forces. Long-standing border disputes will be discussed after the 60-day withdrawal period.
The process will be overseen by a US-led oversight mechanism that will act as a referee for the violations. A letter of guarantee, which is not officially part of the deal, reportedly guarantees US support for Israel’s freedom of action if Hezbollah attacks Israel again or moves its forces or weaponry south of Litani.
The agreement follows the outline of UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which ended the 36-day war between Israel and Hezbollah in 2006, but was never fully implemented.
Even as the deal was due to be announced, Israel stepped up its campaign of airstrikes against the Lebanese capital Beirut and other areas of the country, killing 18 people, according to the country’s health authorities.
The agreement will have no direct effect on the fighting in Gaza, where US efforts to broker a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas have failed to produce an agreement. Tuesday’s ceasefire talks were reportedly facilitated by the decision to separate them from talks in Gaza, where the conflict remains intractable.
