Biden announces cease-fire deal between Israel and Hezbollah

U.S. President Joe Biden on Tuesday afternoon said he’d spoken by phone with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, as well as Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati, who said their governments had both agreed to the U.S.-backed deal. In announcing the agreement, Biden emphasized that neither Israel, nor the Lebanese people were to blame for the conflict that heated up in recent months. Instead, he said the terror group Hezbollah bore sole responsibility for the  hostilities.

What are the terms of the cease-fire? Biden said the cease-fire is designed to be permanent and goes into effect at 4 a.m. local time on Wednesday. The agreement stipulates that all cross-border fighting will end at that time, according to Biden. He said over the next 60 days, the Lebanese army will be allowed to redeploy, but Hezbollah is prohibited from reconstituting or building any infrastructure. Over the same time period, Israel will gradually withdraw its forces from southern Lebanon and civilians will be allowed to return to the area, Biden said. The agreement prohibits Hezbollah from either attacking Israel or building up weapons stockpiles and capabilities to do so at a later time, Netanyahu said earlier on Tuesday. At all times, Israel will retain the right to defend itself if attacked, Biden said.

How will this new agreement be enforced? Israel’s former defense minister, Yoav Gallant, said that in the Middle East, written agreements mean nothing. He said the only way to guarantee Israel’s safety is to punish any violation of the cease-fire agreement by Hezbollah. Biden insisted that no U.S. troops would be deployed in southern Lebanon. Instead, he said both the United States and France would provide any necessary assistance to implement the deal.

What about the war against the terror group Hamas in Gaza? Biden said the United States, along with other nations, is redoubling efforts to secure a second cease-fire deal that would secure the release of the roughly 100 hostages Hamas still holds in Gaza, while at the same time ending the ongoing conflict in that area. Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid on Tuesday called for the release of the hostages. Netanyahu in his remarks earlier in the day reiterated his pledge that Israeli forces will continue fighting until all of the hostages are brought home. Israel’s war against Hamas will not end until all of Israel’s objectives are achieved, the prime minister said.

Dig deeper: Listen to Travis K. Kircher’s report on The World and Everything in It podcast about an Israeli couple’s harrowing ordeal as hostages of Hamas.