President Joe Biden has announced that Israel and Hezbollah, the militant group based in Lebanon, have agreed to a US-brokered peace deal aimed at establishing a “permanent cessation” of hostilities between the two parties.
In his address to the nation on Tuesday, shortly after Israel’s Security Cabinet approved the agreement, President Biden announced that, as part of the ceasefire, Israel will begin a gradual withdrawal of its troops from Lebanon over the next 60 days.
Reportedly, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu presented the agreement to the Security Cabinet, which is intended to end the months-long fighting between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah. The conflict, which was sparked by the Gaza crisis, has resulted in thousands of deaths and displacements.
The US President said he spoke with Netanyahu and Lebanon’s Prime Minister Najib Mikati.
“I’m pleased to announce that their governments have accepted the United States’ proposal to end the devastating conflict between Israel and Hezbollah. I want to thank President Macron of France for his partnership in reaching this moment,” he said, PTI reported.
“I’ve directed my team to work with the governments of Israel and Lebanon to forge a ceasefire to bring the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah to a close,” Biden said.
“Under the deal reached today, effective at 4:00 a.m. tomorrow local time, the fighting across the Lebanese-Israeli border will end. This is designed to be a permanent cessation of hostilities,” he added.
Biden stated that any remnants of Hezbollah and other terrorist organizations will not be permitted to jeopardize Israel’s security again.
“Over the next 60 days, the Lebanese Army and the 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,” he further added.
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