Members of Hezbollah wave the party flag as they greet drivers on the highway between Saida and Sour on Nove. 27, 2024, as displaced people make their way back to their homes in the south of Lebanon after a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah took effect. (Credit: MAHMOUD ZAYYAT/AFP)
Streams of cars carrying people displaced from southern Lebanon by Israeli strikes in recent months began heading south early on Wednesday after a cease-fire ending hostilities between the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah and Israel came into force.
Reuters reporters saw dozens of cars leaving the port city of Saida around 4:00 a.m. local time (0200 GMT) and heading deeper into southern Lebanon.
Lebanon's army said on Wednesday it is preparing to deploy to the south of the country, after a cease-fire 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.
Israel war cabinet approves cease-fire
On Tuesday, Israel's war cabinet approved, by 10 votes to 1, the cease-fire agreement with Hezbollah in Lebanon, ending a long — and particularly violent — day of anticipation.
Shortly after, U.S. President Joe Biden, whose country mediated the agreement, announced that it would take effect Wednesday at 4 a.m. local time.
"Over the next 60 days, the Lebanese Army and state security forces will be deployed to South Lebanon to reclaim control of their territory," Biden added, noting that the Israelis would withdraw from southern Lebanon during this period.
The United States will work with the Lebanese army to deter potential violations of a ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon's Hezbollah, but there will not be U.S. combat troops in the area, a senior U.S. official told reporters on Tuesday. The official called the ceasefire deal "a game-changer" that would show Hamas militants in Gaza that the conflict there and in Lebanon were delinked.
Iran, who backs Hezbollah, welcomed the cease-fire in Lebanon, the country's Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said in a statement on Wednesday.
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 at 0200 GMT. The army also asked in a statement that residents of border villages delay returning home until the Israeli military withdraws.
13 point cease-fire agreement
The agreement is as follows, according to L'Orient Today's Mounir Rabih:
• Hezbollah and all other armed groups present on Lebanese territory will refrain from conducting any offensive actions against Israel.
• In return, Israel will not carry out any military offensive against targets in Lebanon, whether on land, in the air, or at sea.
• Both Israel and Lebanon recognize the importance of U.N. Security Council Resolution 1701.
• These commitments do not waive Israel's and Lebanon's inherent right to self-defense.
• The Lebanese security forces and the Lebanese Army will be the only entities authorized to carry weapons or deploy troops in southern Lebanon.
• The sale, provision, or production of weapons and related material in Lebanon will be supervised by the Lebanese government.
• All unauthorized facilities related to the production of weapons and related materials will be dismantled.
• All non-compliant military infrastructure and positions will be dismantled, and all unauthorized weapons will be confiscated.
• A committee approved by both Israel and Lebanon will be established to oversee and assist in the implementation of these commitments.
• Israel and Lebanon will report any violations of these commitments to the committee and to the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL).
• Lebanon will deploy official security forces and the Lebanese Army along all border crossing points and the defined line for the southern zone, as outlined in the deployment plan.
• Israel will gradually withdraw from the southern zone of the Blue Line within a period of up to 60 days.
• The United States will enhance indirect negotiations between Israel and Lebanon to achieve an internationally recognized delineation of the land border.
people displaced from southern Lebanon by Israeli strikes in
recent months began heading south early on Wednesday after a
cease-fire ending hostilities between the Lebanese armed group
Hezbollah and Israel came into force.
Reuters reporters saw dozens of cars leaving the port city
of Saida around 4:00 a.m. local time (0200 GMT)
and...