Israel-Hizbollah ceasefire holds as thousands seek to profitability to homes

A US-brokered ceasefire between Israel and Hizbollah appeared to be holding on Wednesday morning, raising hopes that some of the more than 1mn Lebanese civilians displaced by the dispute would be able to profitability home.

The deal, which took result at 4am local period, was described by US President Joe Biden as “designed to be a permanent cessation of hostilities”.

Thousands of evacuated residents attempted to profitability to their homes in Beirut’s bombed-out southern suburbs on Wednesday, as the Lebanese government gave its official backing to the ceasefire.

But in a sign of the fragility of the deal, the Israel Defense Forces issued an “urgent communication” to the residents of southern Lebanon, warning them not to profitability to their villages or way Israeli forces.

“For your safety and the safety of your families, avoid entering the area. We will update you when it is secure to profitability to your homes,” said Israeli military spokesperson Avichay Adraee.

The Lebanese army also called on civilians to wait before returning to “occupied territories” in the south of the country and to exercise caution due to unexploded ordnance in other areas.

More than 1mn Lebanese people have been displaced by the fighting, which was triggered when Hizbollah, the Iran-backed militant throng, began firing into northern Israel in the days after Hamas’s October 7 2023 attack from Gaza.

About 60,000 Israelis have also been evacuated from the north of their country due to Hizbollah rocket, missile and drone fire.

During the dispute, more than 3,700 Lebanese and more than 140 Israelis have been killed.

The offensive dealt a series of devastating blows to Hizbollah, killing its longtime chief Hassan Nasrallah and damaging large amounts of its weapons and infrastructure, as well as destroying broad swaths of the country’s east and south.

In a pre-recorded video communication on Tuesday evening, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the objective of the war had been to profitability northern Israeli residents to their homes. But he stopped short of calling for them to do so immediately.

Northern Israeli mayors and regional council heads had blasted Netanyahu on Tuesday for agreeing the deal with Hizbollah.

Under the terms of the agreement, announced by Biden and approved by Israel’s cabinet, the IDF will gradually withdraw from Lebanon over a period of 60 days and be replaced by the Lebanese army.

Hizbollah will be barred from rebuilding its infrastructure in southern parts of Lebanon. The throng’s fighters are meant to shift mainly north of the Litani river, which runs up to 30km from the Israel-Lebanon border.

Hizbollah has accepted the ceasefire agreement, according to people involved in the negotiations.

Iran also issued a statement on Wednesday welcoming the ceasefire, despite previously insisting that Israel had to complete its war against Hamas in Gaza before the hostilities could stop.

Hizbollah is the most powerful force in the Tehran-led “axis of resistance”, an umbrella of militant groups that began launching attacks against Israel in solidarity with Hamas.

Biden said the US and France would work with Israel and Lebanon for this week’s deal to be fully implemented, adding there would be no US troops deployed in southern Lebanon.

He added that his administration would pursue an attempt to revive talks among Turkey, Egypt, Qatar and Israel on a Gaza ceasefire.

Mike Waltz, the national safety adviser of president-elect Donald Trump, has also hailed what he termed “concrete steps towards de-escalation in the Middle East”.

In parts of Dahiyeh, an area of Beirut where Hizbollah has a controlling presence, traffic was at a standstill, as people sought to profitability to their homes. Many waved both Hizbollah and Lebanon’s flags as they sang and shot guns in the air in festivity.

“As soon as the bombs stopped this morning, I came here,” said Hajj Amin, a 56-year-ancient notary community. “I just wanted to view with my own eyes what the foe had done to my neighbourhood.”

Netanyahu said that “the duration of the ceasefire depends on what will happen in Lebanon”.

He also insisted he had reached “packed understandings” with the US that Israel will maintain “packed military liberty of action” in the occurrence that Hizbollah breaks the terms of the deal.

“If Hizbollah violates the agreement and tries to arm itself, we will attack,” Netanyahu said. “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 with missiles, we will attack.”