President Biden announces ceasefire to end fighting between Israel and Hezbollah
President Biden announced Tuesday that the U.S. helped secure a ceasefire deal in Lebanon, which would end fighting between Israel and Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah.
His announcement came as Israel’s Cabinet approved the ceasefire after urging from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The war between Israel and the Iran-backed group has killed almost 3,800 people in Lebanon over the last year and left about 16,000 others wounded.
“Today, I have some good news to report from the Middle East,” Mr. Biden said on the White House South Lawn. “I just spoke with the prime minister of Israel and Lebanon. I’m pleased to announce that their governments have accepted the United States’ proposal to end the devastating conflict between Israel and Hezbollah. I want to thank President Macron of France for his partnership in reaching this moment.”
war in Gaza with their terror attack the previous day.
Israel carried out airstrikes on purported Hezbollah targets for months, but in September it dramatically escalated its assault on the Iranian proxy group, including by launching ground operations in the south of Lebanon.
CBS News correspondent Debora Patta said rockets were still flying in both directions over Israel’s northern border on Tuesday, with Israel and Hezbollah trading some of their heaviest fire to date, even as diplomats push for peace.
Under the proposed deal, Lebanese forces and United Nations peacekeepers are expected to jointly patrol southern Lebanon to ensure the terms of the agreement are adhered to. Earlier reports suggested the southern region would be monitored by a multi-nation committee, which would include both the U.S. and France.
Middle East expert Danny Citrinowicz, a fellow at the Atlantic Council think tank, said the deal looked “good on paper,” but added that until it was implemented, “it would be hard to know whether Israel can really build on these kind of guarantees coming from the U.S. administration.”
After more than a year of crossfire, more than 1.2 million people have been displaced from their homes in Lebanon, along with at least 60,000 from towns and villages in northern Israel. They’re all desperate to go home, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has long said the chief objective of the war with Hezbollah, from his government’s standpoint, has been to enable them to do so.
While a deal with Hezbollah appeared closer than ever, negotiations for a ceasefire in Israel’s war with Iran’s other proxy force in the Gaza Strip, Hamas – have gone nowhere.
Blinken said Tuesday that de-escalating tensions in the region “can also help us to end the conflict in Gaza.”
“In particular Hamas will know it can’t count on other fronts opening up in the war,” he said.
Many in the decimated Palestinian territory are hungry, and recent rainstorms have made living conditions there even worse. A winter chill has set in, and there were reports of a fresh Israeli strike killing about 15 people Tuesday in Gaza City.
Arden Farhi,
Debora Patta and
contributed to this report.
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Source: cbsnews.com