World News
JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel agreed to a U.S.-brokered ceasefire cope with Lebanon's Hezbollah on Tuesday, setting the stage for an end to just about 14 months of fighting linked to the continued war within the Gaza Strip.
Israeli warplanes, meanwhile, carried out the fiercest wave of attacks in Beirut and its southern suburbs for the reason that start of the conflict and issued a record variety of evacuation warnings. At least 24 people were killed in attacks across the country, local authorities said, as Israel signaled it desires to proceed attacking Hezbollah before the ceasefire takes effect at 4 a.m. local time on Wednesday.
Another massive airstrike rocked Beirut shortly after the ceasefire was announced.
Israel's security cabinet approved the ceasefire deal late Tuesday after it was presented by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his office said. US President Joe Biden called the agreement “good news” in Washington and said his administration would renew its commitment to a ceasefire in Gaza.
A ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah can be the primary major step toward ending the regional unrest sparked by Hamas' attack on Israel on October 7, 2023. However, it doesn’t address the devastating war in Gaza, where Hamas still holds dozens of hostages. The conflict is more intractable.
US President-elect Donald Trump has vowed to bring peace to the Middle East, without saying how. The Biden administration spent much of this yr negotiating a ceasefire and the discharge of hostages in Gaza, however the talks repeatedly failed.
Still, an end to fighting in Lebanon should reduce the likelihood of a war between Israel and Iran, which backs each Hezbollah and Hamas and exchanged direct fire with Israel twice earlier this yr.
Netanyahu presented the ceasefire proposal to Cabinet ministers after a televised address during which he listed a series of successes against Israel's enemies across the region. He said a ceasefire with Hezbollah would further isolate Hamas in Gaza and permit Israel to deal with its most important enemy, Iran, which supports each groups.
“If Hezbollah breaks the agreement and tries to rearm, we will attack,” he said. “Any violation, we will attack with all our might.”
The ceasefire agreement calls for an initial two-month cessation of fighting and would require Hezbollah to finish its armed presence across a large swath of southern Lebanon, while Israeli troops would return to their side of the border. Thousands of additional Lebanese troops and U.N. peacekeepers can be deployed to the south, and a world body led by the United States would monitor compliance by all sides.
But implementation stays a giant query mark. Israel has asserted the suitable to intervene if Hezbollah violates its commitments. Lebanese officials have declined to incorporate this within the proposal.
Biden said Israel reserves the suitable to quickly resume operations in Lebanon if Hezbollah violates the terms of the ceasefire, but that the agreement was “designed for a permanent cessation of hostilities.”
Netanyahu's office said Israel appreciated U.S. efforts to secure the deal but “reserves the right to act against any threat to its security.”
Hezbollah said it accepted the proposal, but a senior official from the group said Tuesday that it had not yet seen the agreement in its final form.
“After reviewing the agreement signed by the enemy government, we will see whether there is a correspondence between what we said and what was agreed by the Lebanese officials,” said Mahmoud Qamati, deputy chairman of the political Hezbollah Council, told Al Jazeera news channel.
“We obviously want an end to the aggression, but not at the expense of the sovereignty of the state of Lebanon,” he said. “Any violation of sovereignty is rejected.”
Even as Israeli, U.S., Lebanese and international officials have expressed growing optimism a few ceasefire, Israel has continued its campaign in Lebanon, which it says is aimed toward weakening Hezbollah's military capabilities.
An Israeli strike leveled a residential constructing in Beirut's central Basta district on Tuesday – the second time in recent days that warplanes have struck the crowded area near the town's downtown. According to the Lebanese Ministry of Health, at the least seven people were killed and 37 injured. At least one person was killed and 13 injured in attacks on Beirut's southern suburbs, it said.
Three people were killed in a separate attack in Beirut and three in an attack on a Palestinian refugee camp in southern Lebanon. According to Lebanese state media, one other ten people were killed within the eastern province of Baalbek. Israel says it’s targeting Hezbollah fighters and their infrastructure.
Israel also attacked a constructing in Beirut's busy Hamra business district for the primary time, at a site about 400 meters (yards) from Lebanon's central bank. There were no reports of casualties.
The Israeli military said it struck targets in Beirut and other areas linked to Hezbollah's financial arm.
The evacuation warnings covered many areas, including parts of Beirut, that had not previously been attacked. The warnings, coupled with fears that Israel would escalate its attacks before a ceasefire, caused residents to flee. Traffic got here to a standstill and mattresses were tied to some cars. Dozens of individuals, some in pajamas, gathered in a central square, huddling under blankets or standing around fires as Israeli drones buzzed loudly overhead.
Meanwhile, Hezbollah continued its rocket fire and triggered air raid sirens in northern Israel.
Israeli military spokesman Avichay Adraee issued evacuation warnings for 20 buildings in Beirut's southern suburbs, where Hezbollah has a powerful presence, in addition to a warning for the southern city of Naqoura, where the UN peacekeeping mission UNIFIL is predicated.
UNIFIL spokesman Andrea Tenenti told The Associated Press that peacekeepers is not going to be evacuated.
The Israeli military also said its ground forces clashed with Hezbollah forces and destroyed rocket launchers within the Slouqi area on the eastern end of the Litani River, a number of kilometers from the Israeli border.
Under the ceasefire agreement, Hezbollah can be required to maneuver its forces north of the Litani, which in some places is about 30 kilometers (20 miles) north of the border.
A day after Hamas carried out its October 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel that sparked the Gaza War, Hezbollah began firing on northern Israel, saying it was showing support for the Palestinians. Israel returned fire on Hezbollah and there was an exchange of fireside between the 2 sides ever since.
In mid-September, Israel stepped up its bombing campaign and later sent troops into Lebanon. In doing so, it promised to place an end to Hezbollah fire in order that tens of hundreds of evacuated Israelis could return to their homes.
Lebanese health authorities say greater than 3,760 people have been killed by Israeli fire in Lebanon previously 13 months, a lot of them civilians. The bombing forced 1.2 million people from their homes. Israel says it has killed greater than 2,000 Hezbollah members.
Hezbollah fire has forced about 50,000 Israelis to evacuate within the north of the country, and its rockets have reached southern Israel so far as Tel Aviv. At least 75 people were killed, greater than half of them civilians. More than 50 Israeli soldiers were killed in the bottom offensive in Lebanon.
image credit : www.boston.com