William Christou
The Guardian / November 27, 2024
Reports of cars heading south inside Lebanon despite Israeli army warning displaced residents not to return home immediately.
A highly anticipated ceasefire aimed at ending the 14-month-old war between Israel and Hezbollah officially came into effect early on Wednesday morning, hours after Joe Biden hailed the “historic” moment.
The ceasefire officially began at 0200 GMT – 4am in Lebanon – after the heaviest day of raids on Beirut, including a series of strikes in the city’s centre, since Israel stepped up its air campaign in Lebanon in late September before sending in ground troops.
By 7am in Lebanon there were no immediate reports of alleged violations of the truce. Some celebratory gunshots could be heard in parts of Beirut’s southern suburbs.
The Israeli army warned soon after the ceasefire began that residents of south Lebanon should not approach Israel Defense Forces positions and villages its forces had ordered to be evacuated.
“With the entry into force of the ceasefire agreement and based on its provisions, the IDF remains deployed in its positions inside southern Lebanon,” army spokesperson Avichay Adraee said in a post on X.
“You are prohibited from heading towards the villages that the IDF has ordered to be evacuated or towards IDF forces in the area.”
Joe Biden announces Israel and Lebanon have accepted ceasefire deal – video
However, the roads leading from Beirut to south Lebanon were filled with traffic.
Hezbollah and the Amal political movement issued guidelines for residents who wanted to return to their villages, south of the Litani river – though the Lebanese army told residents of border villages not to return yet, as Israeli forces had not withdrawn from the villages.
The army said on Wednesday morning that it was deploying in south Lebanon in accordance with UN resolution 1701 – which formed the basis of the Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire. The resolution calls for the withdrawal of Hezbollah fighters north of the Litani river – about 18 miles from the Lebanon-Israel border – and the withdrawal of Israeli troops from south Lebanon.
Doubts over whether the ceasefire would hold were widespread, as the smell of the overnight bombing hung over the southern suburbs of Beirut and an Israeli drone buzzed overhead, despite the ceasefire.
Nonetheless, residents had already started returning to south Lebanon, whooping and cheering as they drove into Tyre, the second largest city in the south.
The highway leading back to south Lebanon was choked with cars filled with families and mattresses strapped to their roofs. Groups lined the roads near Saida, waving and cheering as cars passed by.
“Now we’re returning! We’re just waiting for authorisation from the army and we’ll go straight to the village — even though there are no houses left,” said Rita Darwish, a displaced resident of Dheira.
Ahmad Husseini said returning to southern Lebanon was an “indescribable feeling” and praised speaker of parliament Nabih Berri, who led Lebanon’s negotiations with Washington. “He made us and everyone proud.”
Husseini, who earlier fled a town near the coastal city, spoke to The Associated Press while in his car with family members.
Iran on Wednesday welcomed the end of Israel’s “aggression” in Lebanon. Foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said in a statement, stressed Iran’s “firm support for the Lebanese government, nation and resistance”.
On Tuesday, the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, had endorsed the deal after his full cabinet approved it, despite opposition from his far-right allies.
In televised remarks after the Israeli security cabinet met to vote on the proposal for a 60-day ceasefire, Netanyahu said he was ready to implement the deal, but added that Israel would retain “complete military freedom of action” in the event of an infringement by Hezbollah.
“We will enforce the agreement and respond forcefully to any violation. Together, we will continue until victory,” Netanyahu said.
Under the deal’s terms, Israel will withdraw entirely from southern Lebanon, while Hezbollah will move its heavy weaponry north of the Litani River, about 16 miles (25km) north of the border.
In remarks from the White House Rose Garden, Biden said: “This is designed to be a permanent cessation of hostilities. What is left of Hezbollah and other terrorist organisations will not be allowed, I emphasise, will not be allowed to threaten the security of Israel again,” he said.
“Today’s announcement is a critical step … and so I applaud the courageous decision made by the leaders of Lebanon and Israel to end the violence,” he continued. “It reminds us that peace is possible. Say that again, peace is possible.”
The deal is a rare boost for Biden as he prepares to leave the White House and hand over to president-elect Donald Trump on 20 January.
The French president, Emmanuel Macron, welcomed the deal, which he said was “the culmination of efforts undertaken for many months with the Israeli and Lebanese authorities, in close collaboration with the United States”.
In a statement posted online, Macron said the deal should “turn the page for Lebanon” but cautioned: “We must not forget that war continues to plague Gaza, where France will continue its efforts for an end of hostilities, the liberation of hostages and massive delivery of humanitarian aid.”
He added: “This accord should also open the way for a ceasefire which has taken too long to arrive in the face of the immeasurable suffering of the people of Gaza.”
Leaders around the world echoed his sentiments. Britain’s prime minister, Keir Starmer, said it would provide some measure of relief to civilian populations in Lebanon and northern Israel and urged progress towards a ceasefire in Gaza. The EU chief, Ursula von der Leyen, hailed the “very encouraging news”, saying the deal would increase Lebanon’s “internal security and stability”.
Even as the deal was set to be announced, Israel stepped up its campaign of airstrikes against the Lebanese capital of Beirut and other areas of the country, killing 18 people according to the country’s health authorities.
The signing of a ceasefire comes with less than two months left in the Biden administration.
A senior White House administration official confirmed that Trump’s national security team had been briefed on the plans for the ceasefire and said that the president-elect’s administration was expected to maintain support for it.
“They seem to be support it,” the administration official said. “And for the obvious reason that I think they agreed this is good for Israel, as prime minister Netanyahu just said, it is good for Lebanon, as their government has said, and it is good for the national security of the United States. And most important, doing it now versus later, we’ll save countless lives on both sides.”
Hezbollah did not participate directly in the talks for the truce, with Berri mediating on its behalf.
The deal will not have any direct effect on the fighting in Gaza, where US efforts to broker a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas have not led to a deal. The negotiations over Tuesday’s ceasefire were reportedly facilitated by a decision to decouple them from the Gaza talks, where the conflict remains intractable.
But asked about whether a Gaza ceasefire deal may follow, Biden said: “I think so. I hope so. I’m praying.”
William Christou is a Beirut-based journalist
