Thousands return home after Hezbollah-Israel cease-fire deal
A cease-fire between Israel and Lebanese resistance group Hezbollah held on Wednesday after the two sides struck a deal brokered by the US and France.
The agreement ended the deadliest confrontation between the Israeli regime and the resistance group in years and paved the way for the return of tens of thousands of displaced Lebanese to their devastated towns and villages.
Under the terms of the deal, the Lebanese Army started reinforcing its presence in the country’s south, a region Israel heavily bombarded during its aggression.
Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati said the army would shore up its presence in the south, while urging Israel to withdraw and respect the cease-fire.
United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres also has said the UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon, UNIFIL, will also help implement the agreement.
Israel’s military said its forces were still on Lebanese territory and urged residents of southern Lebanese villages to delay returning home until further notice from the Israeli military. Israeli troops have pushed around 6 km into Lebanon in a series of ground incursions launched in September.
Hezbollah lawmaker Hassan Fadlallah said the group was cooperating with the army’s deployment to southern Lebanon, insisting that, “There will be no problem there.”
‘Secret resistance’
Fadlallah went on to say that Hezbollah had “no visible weapons or bases” in the south, but at the same time, noted the group “is a secret resistance... not a regular army.”
“Hezbollah’s fighters are the people of these villages and towns, and most of the dead are from these villages,” he said.
“Nobody can make residents leave their villages.”
US President Joe Biden said Israel will gradually withdraw its forces over 60 days as Lebanon’s Army takes control of the territory.
Biden said his administration was also pushing for an elusive cease-fire in the Gaza Strip where more than 44,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s onslaught on the Palestinians territory since October 2023.
Sami Abu Zuhri, an official for the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas, said the group “appreciates” Lebanon’s right to reach an agreement that protects its people, and hopes for a deal to end the Gaza war.
Iran also welcomed the cease-fire.
Iranian Foreign Ministry’s spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei in a statement welcomed the cease-fire agreement, reaffirming the Islamic Republic’s unwavering support for the Lebanese government, nation and its resistance movement.
Lebanon says at least 3,823 people have been killed in Israel’s strikes since October 2023 when Hezbollah began to target Israel’s military positions in support of Hamas fighters in Gaza.