Israel okays US-brokered ceasefire with Hezbollah, vows to hit back at every violation

Israel’s security cabinet late Tuesday approved a US-brokered ceasefire that aims to end almost 14 months of Hezbollah-initiated fighting across the northern border, with the national security cabinet voting 10-1 to approve the measure.

Minutes later, US President Joe Biden announced from the Rose Garden that the ceasefire would come into effect at 4 a.m. Wednesday morning, Israel- and Lebanon-time.

The agreement, which has not yet been published, reportedly provides for a 60-day transition period during which the IDF will withdraw its forces from southern Lebanon; the Lebanese Army will deploy some 5,000 troops to 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 is also reportedly providing a side letter specifying Israel’s rights to respond to Hezbollah violations of the ceasefire.

“Israel appreciates the US contribution to the process, and reserves the right to act against any threat to its security,” said the Prime Minister’s Office.

The sole security cabinet member to vote against the deal was National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, who called the measure “a historic mistake.” Numerous local council heads in northern Israel, some of whom met with Netanyahu on Tuesday evening, have also expressed bitter opposition to the deal, arguing that Hezbollah remains relatively potent and fearing that it will now have the opportunity to rearm and gradually rebuild its offensive capabilities in southern Lebanon.

Biden said he had spoken separately by phone with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati, and both informed him that their governments had accepted the deal, with Lebanon ostensibly receiving the go-ahead from Hezbollah.

Biden also thanked French President Emmanuel Macron for his involvement in helping broker the agreement.

According to the PMO, Netanyahu thanked Biden in their call for “the United States’ involvement in achieving the ceasefire agreement in Lebanon, and for the understanding that Israel will maintain freedom of action in enforcing it.”

Hezbollah began firing into Israel the day after Hamas’s October 7, 2023, onslaught in southern Israel, in support of its fellow Iran-backed terror group, forcing the displacement of some 60,000 residents of northern Israel. Israel’s military responses intensified two months ago, with Israel killing much of Hezbollah’s leadership and destroying much but not all of its missile, rocket and drone capabilities.

Israel has attempted to pare back Hezbollah’s hold on southern Lebanon, waging a campaign of aerial bombardments and a limited ground incursion that saw soldiers search villages for rockets and other arms held by the terror group, and tackle its terror tunnels and other infrastructure.

Biden and Macron said in a joint statement that the deal protects Israel from Hezbollah and creates the conditions for a “lasting calm.”

The US and France will work “to ensure this arrangement is fully implemented” and lead international efforts for “capacity-building” of the Lebanese army, they added.

Biden stressed that the deal “is designed to be a permanent cessation of hostilities.”

Before the ceasefire vote, and after meeting with his security cabinet for over an hour, Netanyahu issued a video statement in which he said that “the duration of the ceasefire will depend on what takes place in Lebanon.”

He did not encourage displaced residents of the north to return at this stage, and vowed that the multifront war that began on October 7, 2023, “will not end until we realize all its goals, including the return of the residents of the north safely home.”

Netanyahu said that “with the full understanding with the US, we are maintaining full freedom of action” against Hezbollah in Lebanon.

“If Hezbollah violates the agreement and tries to rearm, we will attack,” Netanyahu promised. “If it tries to rebuild the terror infrastructure near the border, we will attack. If it fires a rocket, if it digs a tunnel, if it brings in a truck with missiles, we will attack.”

“To every violation, we will respond with force,” Netanyahu pledged.

“A good deal is one that is enforced, and we will enforce it.”

According to Biden, over the next 60 days, the Lebanese army and state security forces will deploy and take control of their own territory in southern Lebanon, while Hezbollah will not be allowed to rebuild its terror infrastructure.

During this 60-day period, Israel will gradually withdraw its troops from Lebanon. The deal will allow civilians on both sides of the Blue Line to return to their homes and rebuild their communities, Biden said.

A separate US side letter guaranteeing Israel’s right to respond to violations of the deal does not include explicit language stating that Israel has the freedom to respond if the Lebanese terror group violates the agreement in areas north of Lebanon’s Litani River, Channel 12 news reported.

According to the report, the US assurance states that Israel will report any such violation to the US-led international body that is expected to oversee the deal, which will then convene to discuss how serious the violation is. However, the wording about whether Israel then has the right to respond is ambiguous, unlike in cases when there are violations south of the Litani River or if there is an immediate threat.

The report said that the US guarantee provides for Israel to hit back right away in the face of an “immediate threat,” and that this includes arms smuggling. As regards a so-called “present threat,” such as tunnel digging, Israel would inform the international body and could then choose to wait or take action.

PM: Three reasons for a ceasefire now

In his video statement, Netanyahu said there were three reasons for accepting the ceasefire now. “The first is to focus on the Iranian threat, and I won’t elaborate,” he said.

The second was to allow troops to rest and to replenish weapon stores.

“There were delays, and big delays, in weapons shipments,” he said, without mentioning the Biden administration directly. “And that delay will soon be released,” he said, hinting at Donald Trump’s return to the White House.

The third reason, he said, is to delink the northern and southern fronts and isolate Hamas. “With Hezbollah out of the picture, Hamas is left alone in the campaign,” he said, and will be under greater pressure. “That will help in the sacred mission of freeing our hostages.”

The Biden administration fiercely denied Netanyahu’s claim that it has been delaying weapon shipments to Israel.

“Other than the shipment of 2,000-pound bombs, there is no policy delay or hold on anything. There’s just not,” a US official told The Times of Israel.

Hebrew media reports in recent days have quoted unnamed Netanyahu associates claiming that the Biden administration pledged to release withheld weapon shipments in exchange for Israel agreeing to the ceasefire. Other aides to the premier have asserted that the return of Donald Trump to the White House will also ensure an end to the claimed delay of weapon shipments.

President Isaac Herzog praised the ceasefire in Lebanon, calling it “correct and important,” but added that Israel “will protect its citizens at any time, in any place and by any means.”

“We fought fiercely as a nation to ensure security for the citizens of Israel, and we as a nation are determined to ensure the security of all residents of Israel in the north and south and everywhere and to work for the full rehabilitation of the communities and settlements that were affected,” he wrote on X.

He called on Israel to “seize the opportunity” to get the hostages out of Gaza.

Opposition criticism

Several opposition leaders attacked Netanyahu over the deal.

Yair Golan, who heads a union of left-wing parties called The Democrats, said that “if it’s possible to end the fighting in the north with Hezbollah,” Israel should and could also reach a hostage deal and end the war in Gaza.

“One-hundred-and-one hostages are waiting for us to save them, but this government is sending soldiers to war to save itself,” Golan charged, following Netanyahu’s televised address.

He called on Netanyahu to “immediately” remove from his lapel the yellow ribbon pin that signifies support for the hostages.

Opposition MK Avigdor Liberman, leader of the hawkish Yisrael Beytenu party, also panned Netanyahu over the ceasefire deal.

“Netanyahu said until total victory, he just didn’t say the victory of which side,” Liberman sniped in a post on X.

Jacob Magid contributed to this report.