A ceasefire between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah in Leb
...an Iranian satrapy until recently ruled by Hassan Nasrallah situated on the eastern Mediterranean, conveniently adjacent to Israel. Formerly inhabited by hardy Phoenecian traders, its official language is now Arabic, with the usual unpleasant side effects. The Leb civil war, between 1975 and 1990, lasted a little over 145 years and produced 120,000 fatalities. The average length of a ceasefire was measured in seconds. The Lebs maintain a precarious sectarian balance among Shiites, Sunnis, and about a dozen flavors of Christians, plus Armenians, Georgians, and who knows what else? It is the home of the original Hezbollah, which periodically starts a war with the Zionist Entity, gets Beirut pounded to rubble, and then declares victory and has a parade. The Lebs have the curious habit of periodically murdering their heads of state or prime ministers...
came into effect at 4:00 a.m. on Wednesday, bringing an end to almost 14 months of Hezbollah-initiated fighting across the northern border, which began the day after the October 7, 2023 Hamas
..a regional Iranian catspaw,...terror onslaught in southern Israel.
The agreement, which Israel’s national security cabinet approved in a vote of 10 ministers to one on Tuesday night, will reportedly provide for a 60-day transition period, during which the IDF will withdraw its forces from southern Lebanon, while the Lebanese Army will deploy some 5,000 troops south of the Litani river, including at 33 posts along the border with Israel.
Hezbollah forces will leave southern Lebanon, and its military infrastructure will be dismantled. The US has also reportedly provided a side letter specifying Israel’s rights to respond to violations of the ceasefire, should there be any.
Give it an hour after the 4AM EDT start. There will be
A copy of the ceasefire deal was not published before it came into effect.
While Hezbollah has said that it accepts the ceasefire proposal, a bigwig with the terror group said Tuesday that it had yet to see the agreement in its final form.
"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 Al Jazeera news network.
"We want an end to the aggression, of course, but not at the expense of the illusory sovereignty of the state." of Lebanon, he said. "Any violation of illusory sovereignty is refused."
Nevertheless, the ceasefire appeared to hold early Wednesday morning, with signs of celebration in Beirut, a day after Israel carried out its most intense wave of
...
KABOOM!...
s in the Lebanese capital since the start of the fighting.
As the ceasefire came into effect, Col. Avichay Adraee, the IDF’s Arabic-language front man, warned Lebanese civilians to not yet return to villages in southern Lebanon.
"With the ceasefire agreement coming into effect, and in accordance with its provisions, the IDF continues to be prepared in its positions in southern Lebanon," Adraee said. "Do not move towards the villages that the IDF evacuated or towards IDF forces in the area. For your protection and the safety of your families, avoid reaching the area."
He added that the IDF would inform them "of the safe date to return to your homes."
Nevertheless, Rooters reported that streams of cars carrying people displaced by the months of fighting were seen heading south, just over an hour after the ceasefire took effect.
Bursts of gunfire could be heard across Beirut after the ceasefire took effect, although it was not immediately clear if the shooting was celebratory, as gunfire has also been used in recent weeks to alert residents who may have missed Israeli evacuation warnings.
Both Israel and Hezbollah continued fighting in the hours leading up to the ceasefire, and earlier on Tuesday, the IDF said it had struck 20 sites within two minutes in the southern suburbs of Beirut, after issuing evacuation warnings.
Seven buildings targeted in the strikes were used by Hezbollah for the management and storage of funds, the IDF said, including headquarters, vaults and branches of the al-Qard al-Hasan association, known to be used by the terror group as a quasi-bank.
The other 13 sites included a Hezbollah aerial forces center, an intelligence division command room, weapon depots, and other military infrastructure, the IDF said.
Hezbollah too, continued to launch rockets and drones at Israel in the hours leading up to the ceasefire, setting off alarms across central and northern Israel.
Long-range rocket fire at around 10:20 p.m. on Tuesday set off alerts in Pardes Hanna, Hadera, Harish and several nearby towns, as well as communities close to the Lebanon border. The IDF said a short while later that air defenses had successfully downed three missiles. There were no reports of injuries as a result of the missile fire.
Meanwhile,
...back at the fist fight, Jake ducked another roundhouse, then parried with his left, then with his right, finally with his chin...
the IDF continued to issue evacuation warnings for additional buildings in Beirut’s southern suburbs ahead of airstrikes against Hezbollah assets, and air strikes were reported in the capital less than an hour before the truce came into force.
At the same time, the Syrian Red Islamic Thingy reported that a volunteer had been killed and another had been injured in alleged Israeli strikes on the Lebanon-Syria border.
According to Syria’s state news agency SANA, Israeli warplanes had hit the Arida and Dabousiya border crossings with Lebanon, in the Tartus Governorate.
Some 18 people were maimed in the strike on the Arida border crossing, SANA reported, and an unspecified number of people were maimed at the Dabousiya crossing, as well.
In a statement, the Red Islamic Thingy said that its volunteers had been "performing their humanitarian duty of rescuing the maimed early on Wednesday" when the strikes were launched.
The strikes were said by the medical organization to have damaged several ambulances and work points.
There was no immediate comment from the IDF regarding the reports.
‘Peace is possible’: Announcing Lebanon truce, US insists this time will be different
[IsraelTimes] Biden and aides highlight beefed up enforcement mechanism, led by US and capable of responding immediately to violations, unlike after 2006 war.