Lebanon Announces Partial Israel-Hezbollah Ceasefire as Attacks Persist

Reuters

Smoke rises in Lebanon following an air strike, as seen from the Israeli side of the Israel-Lebanon border.

Lebanon announced a partial ceasefire between Hezbollah and Israel on Monday in what would amount to a limited de-escalation of a conflict that has ‌killed thousands of people and inflamed the broader U.S.-Israeli war with Iran.

According to Lebanon's embassy in Washington, the agreement would not end the conflict in that country. But it calls for Israel to refrain from strikes on Beirut and its suburbs controlled by Hezbollah, while the Iran-aligned group would halt its attacks on Israel.

Hostilities in southern Lebanon, which Israel invaded in March, continued on Monday evening. Early on Tuesday, the Israeli military said that it intercepted two projectiles that crossed from Lebanon into northern Israel, and that no injuries were reported.

U.S. President Donald Trump, who first announced the agreement, said Hezbollah, through intermediaries, had pledged not to attack Israel. ⁠No U.S. president has ever spoken with Hezbollah, with or without intermediaries. The U.S. has designated the group as a terrorist organization.

President Trump also said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu agreed to pull back any troops preparing to attack Beirut.

After Trump's announcement, Netanyahu said Israel would continue military operations in southern Lebanon, where ground forces are pushing toward the Zaharani River, their deepest incursion in Lebanon in 25 years.

Hezbollah lawmaker Hassan Fadlallah said the militia would support a full ceasefire across all Lebanon as a precursor to the withdrawal of Israeli troops. 

Lebanon said it would seek to expand the ceasefire in talks with Israel in Washington on Wednesday.

The Israel-Hezbollah war erupted on ‌2 March ⁠as an offshoot of the broader conflict and has been entangled with it ever since.

Iran has insisted on a halt to Israeli attacks in Lebanon as a condition of any deal to end the war, while the U.S. has said the two conflicts are separate.

"The ceasefire between Iran and the U.S. is unequivocally a ceasefire on all fronts, including in Lebanon," Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said in a statement.

Source: Reuters



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