By Daily Mail (U.S.) | Created at 2024-11-26 21:42:19 | Updated at 2024-11-27 00:48:11
3 hours ago
President Joe Biden confirmed a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah will take effect at 4:00 am local time on Wednesday morning.
It came after both sides accepted an agreement brokered by the United States and France.
Speaking in the White House Rose Garden, Biden hailed the decision to 'end the violence' after a conflict lasting nearly 14 months.
The 82-year-old commander-in-chief said: 'I just spoke with the prime ministers 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.'
The ceasefire, mediated by U.S. and French diplomats, starts a 60-day process during which both sides would stop fighting and withdraw from southern Lebanon.
Biden added: 'This is designed top be a permanent cessation of hostilities. What is left of Hezbollah and other terrorist organizations will not be allowed. Over the next 60 days, the Lebanese army and state security forces will deploy and take control of their own territory.
'Once again, Hezbollah terrorist infrastructure in southern Lebanon will not be allowed to be rebuilt and, over the next 60 days, Israel will gradually withdraw its remaining forces and civilians.'
Israel did not let up on its bombardment of Lebanon, hitting the county hard up to the last minute.
President Joe Biden confirmed Israel and Lebanon's Hezbollah had agreed to a permanent ceasefire after a year-long conflict
The 82-year-old commander-in-chief confirmed in the White House Rose Garden that the deal would be effective from 4:00 am Wednesday morning, and said it was now Hamas' turn to release the hostages
As Israel's cabinet prepared to vote on the ceasefire, the Israeli military bombed Beirut's southern suburbs 20 times in two minutes on Tuesday afternoon, an Israeli military spokesperson said.
At least seven people were killed and another 37 injured in Israeli strikes on a four-story building in central Beirut.
Biden added: 'Just as the Lebanese people deserve a future of security and prosperity, so do the people of Gaza.
'Now Hamas has a choice to make. Their only way out is to release hostages, including American citizens, which they hold and in the process bring an end to the fighting, which would make possible a surge of humanitarian relief.
'Over the coming days, the United States will make another push with Turkey, Egypt, Qatar, Israel and others to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza. With the hostages released and the end of the war without Hamas in power, that becomes possible.'
The Lebanon ceasefire announcement is a win for the Biden administration, which is working to stabilize the Middle East before the president leaves office in January.
Biden made his remarks shortly before he was scheduled to leave to Nantucket, where he will spend the Thanksgiving holiday with his family.
Ahead of his comments Israel's security cabinet announced it approved a ceasefire deal in Lebanon.
The deal does not affect Israel's war against Hamas in Gaza, which shows no signs of ending.
Lebanese officials have said Hezbollah also supports the deal with Israel.
It is a major step toward ending the Israel-Hezbollah war that has inflamed tensions across the region and raised fears of an even wider conflict between Israel and Hezbollah's patron, Iran.
The U.S. and Biden administration have pushed hard for the deal.
It requires Hezbollah to end its armed presence in a broad swath of southern Lebanon, while Israeli troops would return to their side of the border.
Biden confirmed that he had spoken to Netanyahu over the phone after the US-backed deal was confirmed
Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted Beirut on Tuesday
A member of Lebanon's emergency services walk at the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted a building reportedly housing a Hezbollah backed financial institution, in the southern Lebanese city of Sidon
'The length of the ceasefire will depend on what happens in Lebanon,' Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a televised address.
'With the full understanding of the United States, we are preserving full military freedom of action — if Hezbollah breaks the agreement and seeks to arm itself, we will attack.'
It's not clear how the ceasefire will affect the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza. Hezbollah had long insisted that it would not agree to a ceasefire until the war in Gaza ends, but it dropped that condition.
Netanyahu outlined three reasons for the ceasefire - it would allow Israel to focus on Iran, give the military an opportunity to rebuild its stockpiles, and isolate Hamas in Gaza.
