From the Liveblog of
Monday, December 2, 2024
US-brokered ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah is ‘largely holding’ — White House
Jacob Magid is The Times of Israel's US bureau chief
The US-brokered ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah is “largely holding,” White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby says, downplaying the near-daily cross-border strikes that have continued on both sides of the Blue Line since the deal was put into place last week.
Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, the White House spokesperson acknowledges that there have been “some sporadic strikes” over the last several days, but claims “this was expected” and is still a major decrease from the hundreds of Hezbollah rocket attacks and Israeli counter-strikes that were taking place before the ceasefire came into place.
Kirby notes that the ceasefire included the beefing up of an enforcement mechanism that has already begun responding to events on the ground. The mechanism now includes a US Army general who has been dispatched to the US embassy in Beirut and will work with US civilian representative Amos Hochstein to respond to reported violations in real time, Kirby says.
The White House spokesperson says Israel and Lebanon remain committed to the ceasefire, but he concedes that it is only one week old, and there is more work to do to ensure that the enforcement mechanism is bolstered.
Pressed on the subject during a subsequent briefing, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller responds similarly, insisting that the ceasefire has not broken down.
He says the US-led enforcement mechanism is still adjudicating claims by both sides of ceasefire violations. “That’s what we’ll do over the coming days and coming months.”
“If we do see violations of the ceasefire, we’ll go to the parties and tell them to knock it off,” Miller says.
The State Department spokesperson declines to comment on reports that Hochstein has reached out to Israel to express concern that Israel is enforcing the ceasefire “too aggressively.”
