US President Joe Biden on Wednesday (November 27) announced ceasefire agreement between Israrel and Lebanese militant group Hezbollah. The deal, facilitated between the two warring sides by USA and France, will ensure that there would be a 60-day ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, although Biden was quoted by the BBC as saying that it was “designed to be a permanent ceasefire”. President Biden took to social media platform X (formerly Twitter) to announce the ceasefire. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed the ceasefire in a separate post.
What Have Israel, Hezbollah Agreed On In Ceasefire Deal?
As ceasefire comes into effect, Hezbollah is to remove its fighters and weapons from the region between the Blue Line and Lit. river.
Blue Line refers to the unofficial border between Israel and Lebanon. Lit. river is about 30 kilometres away from Blue Line, inside the Lebanese territory.
As Hezbollah fighters retreat, Lebanese army will occupy the region between Lit. river and the Blue Line.
During the 60 days, Israel too will remove its forces and civilians from Lebanese territory.
UN peacekeeping force (Unifil) operates between Blue Line and Lit. river.
As per the deal, 5000 Lebanese troops will occupy the area as Hezbollah retreats.
Who Will Ensure Compliance With Deal In Lebanese Territory?
Currently, there is a certain degree of ambiguity about this as Lebanese army has expressed inability to do so citing lack of resources, manpower and more.
In such a scenario, it is not clear what stand the Lebanese army will take in case Hezbollah fighters do not retreat.
BBC reported citing unnamed US official that US and France will join the existing mech.sm in which Unifil, Lebanon and Israel are to monitor implementation of the deal.
Hezbollah is widely perceived to have been weakened after relentless Israeli attacks on its fighters and infrastructure even that in Lebanese capital Beirut.
Hezbollah was stunned in the month of September this year when thousands of pagers exploded across the country killing at least 40 people and wounding thousands. This was followed by exploding walkie-talkies.
Israel is widely believed to be behind this and the ‘attack’ was reportedly aimed at crippling Hezbollah’s communication capabilities.
Israel Talks Tough
Although Israel has agreed to ceasefire deal with Hezbollah, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had words of warning for Hezbollah.
“With the United States’ full understanding, we maintain full freedom of military action. If Hezbollah violates the agreement and tries to arm itself, we will attack. If it tries to rebuild terrorist infrastructure near the border, we will attack. If it launches a rocket, if it digs a tunnel, if it brings in a truck carrying rockets, we will attack”, Netanyahu said.
He further explained reasons of striking the ceasefire deal with Hezbollah.
“The first reason is to focus on the Ir.an threat, and I won’t expand on that. The second reason is to give our forces a breather and replenish stocks. And I say it openly, it is no secret that there have been big delays in weapons and munitions deliveries. These delays will be resolved soon. We will receive supplies of advanced weaponry that will keep our soldiers safe and give us more strike force to complete our mission. And the third reason for having a ceasefire is to separate the fronts and isolate Hamas. From day two of the war, Hamas was counting on Hezbollah to fight by its side. With Hezbollah out of the picture, Hamas is left on its own. We will increase our pressure on Hamas and that will help us in our sacred mission of releasing our hostages,” said Netanyahu.
