The News
US President Joe Biden announced Tuesday that Israel has reached a ceasefire deal with Lebanon’s Hezbollah, after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Cabinet voted in favor of the proposal. The ceasefire is set to take effect at 4 a.m. local time in Lebanon on Wednesday, Biden said.
“This is designed to be a permanent cessation of hostilities,” the president said in an address at the White House. “We’re determined this conflict will not be just another cycle of violence.”
Under the agreement, Israeli troops would retreat from southern Lebanon while Hezbollah would move its forces and heavy weaponry north, away from the Israeli-Lebanon border.
Speaking after his Cabinet voted to approve the deal, Netanyahu said that the length of the ceasefire “will depend on what happens in Lebanon.”
“With the full understanding of the United States, we are preserving full military freedom of action — if Hezbollah breaks the agreement and seeks to arm itself, we will attack,” Netanyahu said.
In the televised address, Netanyahu said Israel remains committed to eliminating Hamas in Gaza, and that the country’s national security priority was to prevent Iran from building a nuclear weapon. Both Hezbollah and Hamas are backed by Tehran.
“What is left of Hezbollah and other terrorist organizations will not be allowed, I emphasize, will not be allowed to threaten the security of Israel again,” Biden said.
Stressing that the US hoped to reach a similar ceasefire in Gaza with Hamas, Biden announced a new negotiating round that will include Qatar, Egypt, Turkey.
“Just as the Lebanese people deserve a future of security and prosperity, so do the people of Gaza. They too deserve an end to the fighting and displacement,” Biden said “The people of Gaza have been through hell.”