What both sides are saying about ceasefire deal between Israel and Hezbollah

A ceasefire deal that could end more than a year of cross-border fighting between Israel and Lebanon’s Hezbollah militant group has won the backing of Israeli leaders, raising hopes and renewing difficult questions in a region gripped by conflict.

Hezbollah leaders also signalled tentative backing for the US-brokered deal, which offers both sides an off-ramp from hostilities that have driven more than 1.2 million Lebanese and 50,000 Israelis from their homes.

An intense bombing campaign by Israel has killed more than 3,700 people, many of them civilians, Lebanese officials say.

But while the deal, set to take effect early Wednesday, could significantly calm the tensions that have inflamed the region, it does little directly to resolve the much deadlier war that has raged in Gaza since the Hamas attack on southern Israel in October 2023 that killed 1,200 people.

Hezbollah, which began firing scores of rockets into Israel the following day in support of Hamas, has previously said it would keep fighting until there was a stop to the fighting in Gaza.

Here’s what to know about the tentative ceasefire agreement and its potential implications:

– The terms of the deal

The agreement reportedly calls for a 60-day halt in fighting that would see Israeli troops retreat to their side of the border while requiring Hezbollah to end its armed presence in a broad swathe of southern Lebanon.

Us President Joe Biden said on Tuesday that the deal is set to take effect at 4am local time on Wednesday.

Under the deal, thousands of Lebanese troops and UN peacekeepers are to deploy to the region south of the Litani River. An international panel lead by the US would monitor compliance by all sides. Mr Biden said the deal “was designed to be a permanent cessation of hostilities.”

Israel has demanded the right to act should Hezbollah violate its obligations. Lebanese officials have rejected writing that into the proposal.

Israel’s defence minister, Israel Katz, insisted on Tuesday that the military would strike Hezbollah if the UN peacekeeping force, known as Unifil, does not provide “effective enforcement” of the deal.

– Lingering uncertainty

A Hezbollah leader said the group’s support for the deal hinged on clarity that Israel would not renew its attacks.

“After reviewing the agreement signed by the enemy government, we will see if there is a match between what we stated and what was agreed upon by the Lebanese officials,” Mahmoud Qamati, deputy chair of Hezbollah’s political council, told the Qatari satellite news network Al Jazeera.

“We want an end to the aggression, of course, but not at the expense of the sovereignty of the state” of Lebanon, he said.

The European Union’s top diplomat, Josep Borrell, said on Tuesday that Israel’s security concerns had been addressed in the deal also brokered by France.

– Where the fighting has left both sides

After months of cross-border bombings, Israel can claim major victories, including the killing of Hezbollah’s top leader, Hassan Nasrallah, most of his senior commanders and the destruction of extensive militant infrastructure.

A complex attack in September involving the explosion of hundreds of walkie-talkies and pagers used by Hezbollah was widely attributed to Israel, signalling a remarkable penetration of the militant group.

The damage inflicted on Hezbollah has come not only in its ranks, but to the reputation it built by fighting Israel to a stalemate in the 2006 war.

Still, its fighters managed to put up heavy resistance on the ground, slowing Israel’s advance while continuing to fire scores of rockets, missiles and drones across the border each day.

The ceasefire offers relief to both sides, giving Israel’s overstretched army a break and allowing Hezbollah leaders to tout the group’s effectiveness in holding their ground despite Israel’s massive advantage in weaponry.

But the group is likely to face a reckoning, with many Lebanese accusing it of tying their country’s fate to Gaza’s at the service of key ally Iran, inflicting great damage on a Lebanese economy that was already in a grave condition.

– No answers for Gaza

Until now, Hezbollah has insisted that it would only halt its attacks on Israel when it agreed to stop fighting in Gaza. Some in the region are likely to view a deal between the Lebanon-based group and Israel as a capitulation.

In Gaza, where officials say the war has killed more than 44,000 Palestinians, Israel’s attacks have inflicted a heavy toll on Hamas, including the killing of the group’s top leaders.

But Hamas fighters continue to hold scores of Israeli hostages, giving the militant group a bargaining chip if indirect ceasefire negotiations resume. Hamas is likely to continue to demand a lasting truce and a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza in any such deal.

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas offered a pointed reminder on Tuesday of the intractability of the war, demanding urgent international intervention.

“The only way to halt the dangerous escalation we are witnessing in the region, and maintain regional and international stability, security and peace, is to resolve the question of Palestine,” he said in a speech to the UN read by his ambassador.