Live: Thousands return home as Lebanon ceasefire takes hold
Live Updates
Lebanon's army said on Wednesday it is preparing to deploy to the south of the country, after a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah came into effect.
The army also asked in a statement that residents of border villages delay returning home until the Israeli military withdraws.
مع دخول وقف إطلاق النار حيّز التنفيذ، يعمل الجيش على اتخاذ الإجراءات اللازمة لاستكمال الانتشار في الجنوب وفق تكليف الحكومة اللبنانية، وتنفيذ مهماته بالتنسيق مع قوة الأمم المتحدة المؤقتة في لبنان - اليونيفيل ضمن إطار القرار ١٧٠١.
— الجيش اللبناني (@LebarmyOfficial) November 27, 2024
في هذا السياق، تدعو قيادة الجيش المواطنين إلى… pic.twitter.com/ecaWdwat1j
Reporting by Reuters
Many Lebanese took to the streets on Wednesday morning to celebrate the ceasefire with Israel as displaced families began heading back to their homes in southern Lebanon.
An Israeli air strike outside the war-battered Kamal Adwan hospital in north Gaza killed three Palestinians on Wednesday, according to Al Jazeera.
Iran welcomes the ceasefire in Lebanon, the country's foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said in a statement on Wednesday, after a truce took effect on Wednesday morning.
Reporting by Reuters
Good morning Middle East Eye readers,
Here are the latest updates from the Israeli war on Gaza, now in its 418th day:
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A ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon took effect at 4 am local time (2 am GMT) on Wednesday, allowing many displaced Lebanese families to return to their homes.
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Meanwhile, Israeli fighter jets pummelled ther northern Gaza Strip, killing at least eight people in one attack on a school in Gaza City.
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In Syria, a suspected Israeli air strike on a border crossing with Lebanon in the Homs countryside killed at least six people, including two soldiers, Syrian state media said.
Our liveblog will shortly be closing until tomorrow morning.
Here are today's key developments:
- US President Joe Biden has announced a ceasefire deal between Israel and Lebanon that he indicated has already been accepted by the Israeli and Lebanese cabinets - the only two entities the US will negotiate with. The ceasefire will go into effect at 4am local time in the region, or 2am GMT.
- Biden took credit for securing the deal and thanked French President Emmanuel Macron for also ushering it through. The ceasefire is intended to be "permanent", Biden said, and Israel will have to withdraw its forces from Lebanon within 60 days after Lebanese forces move into the south.
- Biden said on Tuesday that he will refocus his efforts on a ceasefire in Gaza in partnership with Turkey, Qatar, Egypt and Israel, now that a ceasefire in Lebanon has been secured.
- The president, who has fewer than 60 days left in office, also recommitted to a normalisation deal between Saudi Arabia and Israel, something the incoming administration of President-elect Donald Trump is very likely to keep pursuing.
- A senior US administration official told reporters on Tuesday that Washington will now chair the pre-existing tripartite mechanism established between Israel and Lebanon in 2006, and will also bring France into the fold to monitor any ceasefire violations.
- It will be up to the current Lebanese government to ensure Hezbollah complies with the ceasefire deal because the US does not negotiate with Hezbollah directly, a senior US administration official told reporters on Tuesday. Hezbollah is listed as a terrorist organisation in the US.
- Israel is continuing to pummel Beirut's southern suburbs and Baalbek, in the Beqaa Valley, just hours before the ceasefire comes into effect.
Video broadcast by Al-Jadeed News in Lebanon shows heavy Israeli bombing of Baalbek, in the Beqaa Valley, a mere three hours before the ceasefire is set to come into effect.
Beirut's southern suburbs have also come under Israeli attack overnight. The Lebanese health ministry does not yet have a full accounting of the deaths from Tuesday.غارة اسرائيلية على حي العسيرة في بعلبك pic.twitter.com/JJoykwpJ8c
— Al Jadeed News (@ALJADEEDNEWS) November 26, 2024
US Central Command, which oversees all US military operations in the Middle East, announced late on Tuesday that it bombed an "Iranian-aligned militia weapons storage facility" in Syria.
The location of the air strike was not disclosed, and CENTCOM said it does not believe there were any civilian casualties.
CENTCOM Forces Strike Iranian Aligned Target in Syria in Response to Attack on U.S. Personnel pic.twitter.com/w7bbBnLhD8
— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) November 26, 2024
It will be up to the current Lebanese government to ensure Hezbollah complies with the ceasefire deal because the US does not negotiate with Hezbollah directly, a senior US administration official told reporters on Tuesday.
Hezbollah is listed as a terrorist organisation in the US.
"The commitments made by the Lebanese government applied to Hezbollah," the official said.
"We don't negotiate with Hezbollah directly. We negotiate with the state of Lebanon. And the government of Lebanon has to take responsibility for what happens in Lebanon now."
"We are aware that they are also in communication with both Hezbollah and with Iran, and the expectations are clear," the official added.
The incoming team of President-elect Donald Trump was briefed on the Israel-Lebanon ceasefire before it was announced, a senior US administration official told reporters on Tuesday.
"I briefed President-elect Trump's senior national security team on the tenants of the deal and my expectations that... there was a higher likelihood of it coming to fruition," the official, who spoke to reporters on the condition that the official's name would be withheld, said.
"I felt that they needed to know what we were negotiating and what the commitments were. I did another round of that, just in the last 24 and 48 hours, [and] they seem to be supportive," the official explained.
"They agreed that this is good for Israel... and it is good for the national security of the United States, and most importantly... will save countless lives on both sides."
Earlier on Tuesday, Trump's incoming national security advisor gave the president-elect credit for helping to usher in the deal, saying: "His resounding victory sent a clear message to the rest of the world that chaos won’t be tolerated."
Everyone is coming to the table because of President Trump.
— Rep. Mike Waltz (@michaelgwaltz) November 26, 2024
His resounding victory sent a clear message to the rest of the world that chaos won’t be tolerated. I’m glad to see concrete steps towards deescalation in the Middle East.
But let’s be clear: The Iran Regime is the…
A senior US administration official told reporters on Tuesday that Washington will now chair the pre-existing tripartite mechanism established between Israel and Lebanon in 2006, and will also bring France into the fold to monitor any ceasefire violations.
Hezbollah is first expected to move north of the Litani River in Lebanon's south, the deal stipulates.
The Lebanese military would then deploy south of the river using some 5,000 troops, who will also dismantle the arms facilities there.
All of Hezbollah's "heavy weaponry" will be removed, the official said.
"The United States, together with France, are going to be joining an existing mechanism, referred to as the tripartite mechanism. This is something that was created shortly after the 2006 war to include Unifil, the UN force in Lebanon and Israel," the official explained.
"It will be reformulated and enhanced to include France and to be chaired by the United States. What this means is that the United States, both through diplomats and military personnel, are going to be receiving any complaints by either side of the of any potential violations. If they are there, they will work with the Lebanese army to make sure that its capacity is building, its training is the necessary training is provided, and that information can flow on a real time basis to make sure that any potential violations are deterred."
A US senior administration official told reporters on Tuesday that the Israeli troop withdrawal stipulated in the ceasefire deal will not begin until the Lebanese army moves to the south of the country first.
"Israeli troops will who are in occupying territory in Lebanon will hold their positions," the official told reporters.
"They will not withdraw, but a 60-day period will start in which the Lebanese military and security forces will begin their deployment towards the south. This is a process that cannot happen overnight or in several days, and therefore there is this period to prevent any vacuums from being formed, where as the Lebanese military deploys... the Israeli military will withdraw."
US President Joe Biden said on Tuesday that he will refocus his efforts on a ceasefire in Gaza in partnership with Turkey, Qatar, Egypt, and Israel, now that a ceasefire in Lebanon has been secured.
"Hamas has a choice to make," Biden said in remarks delivered at the White House.
"Their only way out is to release the hostages, including American citizens, which they hold. In the process, [this would] bring an end to the fighting, which would make possible a surge of humanitarian relief over the coming days."
The president, who has fewer than 60 days left in office, also recommitted to a normalisation deal between Saudi Arabia and Israel, something the incoming administration of President-elect Donald Trump is very likely to keep pursuing.
"Today's announcement brings us closer to realising an affirmative agenda that I've pushed forward during my entire presidency: a vision for the future of the Middle East... a future where Palestinians have a state of their own, one that fulfills this people's legitimate aspirations, one that cannot threaten Israel or harbor terrorist groups with backing from Iran," Biden said.
"To that end, the United States remains prepared to conclude a set of historic deals with Saudi Arabia, to include a security pact and economic assurances, together with a credible pathway for establishing a Palestinian state and the full normalisation of relations between Saudi Arabia and Israel."
US President Joe Biden has announced a ceasefire deal between Israel and Lebanon that he indicated has already been accepted by the Israeli and Lebanese cabinets - the only two entities the US will negotiate with.
The ceasefire will go into effect at 4am local time in the region, or 2am GMT.
Biden took credit for securing the deal and thanked French President Emmanual Macron for also ushering it through.
The ceasefire is "permanent", Biden said, and Israel will have to withdraw its forces from Lebanon within 60 days.
"What is left of Hezbollah and other terrorist organisations will not be allowed, I emphasise, will not be allowed to threaten the security of Israel," Biden said in remarks delivered at the White House.
"The United States, with the full support of France and our other allies, has pledged to work with Israel and Lebanon to ensure that... this arrangement is fully implemented."
Aljazeera is reporting that the Israel-Lebanon ceasefire is set to take effect Wednesday morning local time in the region, and that the Lebanese cabinet will approve it just minutes before it goes into effect. The report seems to indicate that the full Israeli cabinet has already approved it.
Should it hold, the ceasefire is reportedly set for a 60-day period.
Israel cabinet - ceasefire to take effect at 10am tomorrow morning - Lebanon govt meets at 9:30 am to approve the deal ... Hezbollah says it wants to review the clauses of the deal before it is approved by Lebanon cabinet ...
— Zeina Khodr (@ZeinakhodrAljaz) November 26, 2024
