A ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon took hold on Wednesday after more than a year of fighting that has killed thousands, with displaced people returning home in the south, against warnings from both sides.
The truce, which began at 4:00 am (0200 GMT), should bring to a halt a war that has forced tens of thousands of people in Israel and hundreds of thousands more in Lebanon to flee their homes.
Since early Wednesday, traffic on the road leading to the main southern city of Sidon has been congested, as hundreds of displaced people returned to their homes following the truce, AFP correspondents said.
AFP journalists saw cars and minibuses packed with people carrying mattresses, suitcases and blankets heading south, with some honking and singing in celebration.
The Israeli military warned that residents of south Lebanon should not approach military positions and villages its forces had called to be evacuated.
“With the entry into force of the ceasefire agreement and based on its provisions, the IDF (military) remains deployed in its positions inside southern Lebanon,” military spokesman Avichay Adraee said in a post on X.
“You are prohibited from heading towards the villages that the IDF has requested to be evacuated or towards IDF forces in the area.”
– ‘Awaiting withdrawal’ –
Hours into the truce, Lebanon’s army said it was “taking the necessary measures” to deploy forces south.
“The army command calls on citizens to wait before returning to frontline villages and towns that Israeli enemy forces have penetrated, awaiting their withdrawal,” it said in a statement.
Hezbollah-affiliated rescuers also warned displaced people not to return to their homes until authorities issued an official statement saying the ceasefire has completely taken effect.
The Iran-backed group is also organising media tours of Lebanon’s south and east and Beirut’s southern suburbs Wednesday morning as displaced people return to their homes en masse.
The war has seen swathes of Lebanon pounded by air strikes, and Israeli troops deployed across the border to battle Hezbollah militants.
It began with Hezbollah launching cross-border strikes in support of its Palestinian ally Hamas following its October 7, 2023 attack on Israel.
Hamas itself welcomed the ceasefire in Lebanon and said it was ready for its own in Gaza.
US President Joe Biden announced the ceasefire agreement on Tuesday, as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his ministers had agreed to a halt.
— 60 days —
In an interview with Al Jazeera before the truce came into force, US envoy Amos Hochstein said Israeli forces positioned two to three kilometres (1.2 to 1.8 miles) from the border with Lebanon “will remain in place for now”, and leave gradually over the next 60 days, beginning in the “next several days, or first couple of weeks”.
“But there is a lot to do in these 60 days,” Hochstein said in the interview.
“The Lebanese army cannot deploy that many forces that quickly all across the south when they haven’t been there in such a long time,” he said, noting Lebanese armed forces will move in as Israeli forces depart.
“What we don’t want is a repeat of 2006 when the war ended and there was no implementation of the deal, which brought us to the war that we had this year.”
The United States is Israel’s key ally and military backer, and Biden hailed the deal as “good news” and a “new start” for Lebanon.
Netanyahu thanked Biden for his involvement in brokering the deal, and said it would allow Israel to focus on Hamas in Gaza, as well as Iran.
Under the terms of the Lebanon truce, Israel will maintain “full” freedom to act against Hezbollah should the Iran-backed group pose any new threat, Netanyahu said.
Iran’s foreign ministry on Wednesday welcomed the end of Israel’s “aggression” in Lebanon, and stressed Tehran’s “firm support for the Lebanese government, nation and resistance”.
Lebanon says at least 3,823 people have been killed in the country since exchanges of fire began in October 2023, most of them since late September, when Israel escalated its campaign against Hezbollah.
On the Israeli side, the hostilities with Hezbollah have killed at least 82 soldiers and 47 civilians, authorities say.
Israel conducted a spate of strikes on the heart of the Lebanese capital on Tuesday, while Hezbollah claimed attacks on northern Israel.
Air strikes also hit Beirut’s southern suburbs early Wednesday, according to AFPTV, less than an hour before the truce came into effect.
Hezbollah did not participate in any direct talks for the truce, with Lebanese parliament speaker Nabih Berri mediating on its behalf.
It has yet to formally comment on the truce.
– Focus on Iran –
The war in Lebanon has left Hezbollah massively weakened but not crushed.
It lost its longtime leader Hassan Nasrallah in a massive air strike in September, as well as a string of top commanders in other raids.
A truce in Lebanon, Netanyahu said, will permit Israel to redirect its efforts back to Gaza, where it has been at war with Hamas since October of last year.
“When Hezbollah is out of the picture, Hamas is left alone in the fight. Our pressure on it will intensify,” Netanyahu said, adding that Israel would also focus on “the Iranian threat”.
Iran is the main backer of both Hezbollah and Hamas, as well as other regional proxies that have targeted Israel.
Iran itself has fired two barrages of missiles and drones at Israel since the outbreak of the war in Gaza, in response to attacks attributed to Israel.
In Lebanon, the war has forced nearly 900,000 people to flee their homes, the UN says.
Hezbollah was the only armed group that refused to surrender its weapons after the 1975-1990 Lebanese civil war ended.
To date, the group has maintained a strong presence in parts of Lebanon and its arsenal is believed to be more powerful than that of the national army.
Biden said the United States and France would ensure the deal was fully implemented.
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