A ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah came into effect in southern Lebanon on Wednesday, November 27 at 4 a.m. local time (3 a.m. Paris time), after more than a year of cross-border hostilities and two months of open warfare between the Israeli army and the Lebanese armed formation. Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati welcomed a “fundamental step” towards regional stability.
Key role of the United States and France
The agreement, negotiated by the US special envoy to Lebanon, Amos Hochstein, emerged after several weeks of negotiations, in which the United States and France played an important role. International diplomacy was based in particular on UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which ended the previous war between Israel and Hezbollah in 2006 and which stipulated that only the Lebanese army and peacekeepers could be deployed to the border. southern Lebanon.
US President Joe Biden and French President Emmanuel Macron welcomed together on Tuesday afternoon the announcement of the application of the ceasefire, following the approval of the text by the Israeli security cabinet. The agreement “will create the necessary conditions for the lasting restoration of calm and allow the safe return to their homes of residents on both sides of the “blue line””the border between the two countries drawn by the United Nations, they declared in a joint statement.
Both presidents indicated that their countries would ensure that the agreement was “fully implemented and applied”. They assured that he “would protect” Israel of the ” threat “ of Hezbollah, pledging to work to strengthen “talent” of the Lebanese army and the recovery of the country’s economy. “We could say that this agreement is the result of hard work carried out over many months, that it is a success for French diplomacy and that we can be proud of it”welcomed Jean-Noël Barrot, French Minister of Foreign Affairs, on Wednesday on Franceinfo.
A sixty-day transition phase
In addition to stopping the fighting, the agreement provides for the establishment of a sixty-day transition phase during which Israeli troops must evacuate southern Lebanon, where they entered since 1Ahem October. At the same time, Hezbollah forces will have to withdraw north of the Litani River, about twenty kilometers from the border.
During this two-month phase, the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF), on the other hand, will gradually redeploy to the border strip evacuated by Hezbollah. They are authorized to immediately send between 1,000 and 2,000 men to the South, and then up to 6,000 men over the next six months.
On Wednesday morning, the Lebanese army announced “accept[re] the necessary measures to complete its deployment in the South and (…) implement its missions in coordination with the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon [Finul] “.
The number of peacekeepers must increase
Since the start of the Israeli offensive in southern Lebanon at the end of September, UNIFIL was practically no longer able to carry out its mandate. With this ceasefire agreement, the approximately 10,000 peacekeepers will be able to be reassigned along the “blue line.”
The truce agreement provides, in particular, for the number of peacekeepers to be increased. The French Minister of Foreign Affairs, Jean-Noël Barrot, specified on Wednesday morning that the 700 French soldiers of the French UNIFIL contingent, already present in Lebanon, were going to play “an important role.”
A monitoring committee will be created
To avoid a repeat of the scenario of the previous war between Israel and Hezbollah, in 2006, and for the agreement to be respected by the parties, a monitoring committee will be created, made up of five countries and chaired by the United States. It will also include France, as well as an already existing structure, the tripartite committee (Lebanon, Israel and the United Nations), which had been inoperative since the start of the war.
The Israeli army and Hezbollah on alert
According to Joe Biden, the agreement was designed to result in a permanent cessation of hostilities between the two sides. Despite signing this truce, Hezbollah assured that it will continue fighting against Israel as long as the offensive in Gaza continues.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Tuesday afternoon that the length of the ceasefire would depend “about what will happen in Lebanon”. “We maintain total freedom of military action”added: “If Hezbollah violates the agreement and tries to rearm, we will attack”. The Israeli military said Wednesday morning. “acted[r] respectively “ of the agreement in southern Lebanon, stating however “in high defensive disposition”in case of “rape[ation] of the ceasefire agreement.
The announcement of the agreement also occurred in a climate of tensions that was still high, at the end of a day in which Israel bombed the center of Beirut and its southern suburbs, a stronghold of Hezbollah, like never before since it took power. campaign against the Shia movement on September 23 and then began ground operations in southern Lebanon on September 30. The Shiite movement also claimed responsibility this afternoon for the shooting against northern Israel and the launching of drones over “sensitive military targets” in Tel Aviv.
