Israel-Lebanon ceasefire latest: Hamas ‘ready’ for own truce as Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire begins
Israel warns evacuated residents of Lebanon to not head home yet
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Your support makes all the difference.The Hamas group says it is ready to reach a ceasefire in Gaza with Israel after a truce between Benjamin Netanyahu and the Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon began on Wednesday.
“We have informed mediators in Egypt, Qatar and Turkey that Hamas is ready for a ceasefire agreement and a serious deal to exchange prisoners,” a senior official of Hamas told AFP.
US president Joe Biden on Tuesday said Washington will push for a ceasefire in Gaza in the coming days and secure the release of hostages.
The ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon began a day after Israel carried out its most intense wave of airstrikes in Beirut since the start of the conflict, killing at least 42 people across the country.
There were no immediate reports of alleged violations of the truce, which began at 4am (local time) and there were signs of celebration in Beirut.
However, Israel has warned residents evacuated from southern Lebanon not to head home yet due to the ongoing military deployment in the region. But that didn’t stop displaced people returning to the coastal city of Tyre on motorcycles and in cars early on Wednesday.
The ceasefire comes after more than a year of near-daily rocket fire, ferocious airstrikes and on-the-ground skirmishes between Israeli forces and the militant group across Lebanon.
Read the full story: Israel approves ceasefire deal with Hezbollah
Israeli ministers approve ceasefire deal with Hezbollah in Lebanon
The ceasefire comes into effect at 4am on Wednesday and brings to an end more than a year of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah that’s sparked a humanitarian crisis in Lebanon and pushed the Middle East to the brink
Biden to push for Gaza ceasefire after Israel-Lebanon deal
US President Joe Biden said on Tuesday his administration was pushing for an elusive ceasefire in Gaza and that it is possible that Saudi Arabia and Israel could normalize relations.
The US “will make another push, with Turkey, Egypt, Qatar, Israel and others, to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza,” he said.
Biden also wants the hostages released and to end the war without Hamas in power. Biden made the comments as he announced an Israel-Lebanon ceasefire at the White House.
He added the US “remained prepared to conclude a set of historic deals with Saudi Arabia, to include a security pact and economic assurances, together with a credible pathway for establishing a Palestinian state and the full normalisation of relations between Saudi Arabia and Israel.”
Biden says Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire will take effect Wednesday morning
A ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon’s Hezbollah will take effect on Wednesday after both sides accepted an agreement brokered by the United States and France, US President Joe Biden said on Tuesday.
The accord, clearing the way for an end to a conflict that has killed thousands of people since it was ignited by the Gaza war last year, was designed to be a permanent cessation of hostilities, Biden said in remarks at the White House.
Fighting across the Israel-Lebanon border will end at 4am local time (2am GMT), Biden said.
“This is designed to be a permanent cessation of hostilities,” he said. “What is left of Hezbollah and other terrorist organisations will not be allowed to threaten the security of Israel again.
Israel will gradually withdraw its forces over a period of 60 days as Lebanon’s army takes control of territory near its border with Israel to ensure that Hezbollah does not rebuild its infrastructure there, Biden said.
“Civilians on both sides will soon be able to safely return to their communities,” he said.
Lebanese Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib earlier said the Lebanese army would be ready to have at least 5,000 troops deployed in southern Lebanon as Israeli troops withdraw.
Watch: Biden Calls For Peace In Gaza After Lebanon Ceasefire Announced
Ceasefire deal approved by Israel’s security cabinet
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s security cabinet has approved a ceasefire deal with the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, clearing the way for the truce to take effect.
The late-night vote came shortly before President Joe Biden was expected to announce details of the deal in Washington. Biden called the ceasefire in Lebanon “good news,” but it’s not clear how the truce will affect the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.
In the hours before Israel agreed to the ceasefire, residents of Beirut endured the most intense wave of Israeli strikes on the capital and its southern suburbs since the start of the 13-month war.
Israel was apparently signaling it intended to pummel the country before any ceasefire takes hold. Hezbollah also fired rockets into Israel, triggering air raid sirens across the country’s north.
Read the full story here
Netanyahu approves US plan for ceasefire with Lebanon
A ceasefire would end more than a year of ferocious fighting between Israel and Hezbollah that pushed the Middle East to the brink of a regional war
Watch: Netanyahu backs US plan for ceasefire with Lebanon
Israeli security minister rejects ceasefire proposal
Israel’s far-right security minister has rejected the US ceasefire plan backed by Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday evening.
Itamar Ben-Gvir branded the ceasefire plan a “historical mistake” and said Israel needed a security belt north of the border.
‘This is not a ceasefire. It’s a return to the concept of silence for silence, and we’ve already seen where it leads,” he said.
“In order to leave Lebanon, we must have our own security belt. We have already seen it, that we must not trust anyone but ourselves.
“Otherwise, the missiles will be launched at Manara, Avivim, Kiryat Shmona, the entire north and the entire State of Israel, and finally we will have to return to Lebanon again. This is a historical mistake!”
Israeli strike kills at least 13 at school sheltering displaced in Gaza City, medics say
An Israeli air strike killed at least 13 Palestinians at a school sheltering displaced families in Gaza City, medics said on Tuesday.
They said that dozens of people were also wounded in the Israeli strike that hit the Al-Hurreya School in the Zeitoun neighborhood, one of the oldest suburbs of Gaza City.
Later on Tuesday, an Israeli air strike on a house also in Zeitoun suburb killed seven people and wounded others, medics said. Another strike killed at least one man in the southern city of Rafah, raising the number of Palestinians killed by Israel on Tuesday to 21.
Netanyahu will respond to ‘any violation’ of ceasefire
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday he was ready to implement a ceasefire deal with Lebanon and would “respond forcefully to any violation” by Hezbollah.
In a television address, Netanyahu said he would put the ceasefire accord to his full cabinet later in the evening. Israeli TV reported that the more restricted security cabinet had earlier approved the deal.
“We will enforce the agreement and respond forcefully to any violation. Together, we will continue until victory,” he said.
“In full coordination with the United States, we retain complete military freedom of action. Should Hezbollah violate the agreement or attempt to rearm, we will strike decisively.”
He added that there were three reasons to pursue a ceasefire -- to focus on Iran, replenish depleted arms supplies and give the army a rest, and finally to isolate Hamas, the militant group that triggered war in the region when it launched an attack on Israel from Gaza last year.
He said Hezbollah, which is backed by Iran and allied to Hamas, was considerably weaker than it had been at the start of the conflict.
“We have set it back decades, eliminated ... its top leaders, destroyed most of its rockets and missiles, neutralised thousands of fighters, and obliterated years of terror infrastructure near our border,” he said.
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