A ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah took effect at 4:00 p.m. local time Friday, bringing an end, for now, to the latest round of intense fighting along Israel’s northern border.
A senior U.S. official told Reuters that Israel and Hezbollah agreed to the ceasefire following negotiations brokered by the United States and Qatar. According to the official, the U.S. held talks with Israel while Qatar communicated with Iran, which in turn exerted influence over Hezbollah to secure the agreement.
“Hezbollah and Israel have agreed to a ceasefire,” the official said. “We understand that after the exchange of fire earlier today, Israel and Hezbollah are now in a ceasefire.”
An Israeli source also confirmed to Hebrew media that the ceasefire has taken effect. However, the source stressed that IDF forces will remain deployed in the security buffer zone in southern Lebanon and warned that Israel will respond immediately to any future Hezbollah attacks or violations of the agreement.
According to CNN, the Biden administration conveyed assurances to Iran through mediators that Israel would not continue its offensive against Hezbollah after completing its latest wave of strikes. The report says Israel’s attacks on approximately 80 Hezbollah targets overnight and Friday morning were intended as its full response to the Hezbollah drone attack that killed four IDF soldiers.
“Hezbollah violated the ceasefire. Israel has agreed to let it be, which was relayed to the Iranians, and it’s up to Hezbollah to stop,” U.S. sources told CNN.
The report also said Iran had demanded guarantees that Israel would halt its attacks on Hezbollah before agreeing to continue separate negotiations with the United States. Those talks, which had been scheduled to resume Friday in Switzerland, were canceled following the escalation in Lebanon.
While the ceasefire has now taken effect, Israeli officials have made clear that the military remains on high alert and will respond forcefully to any renewed aggression by Hezbollah.
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One Response
Wondering out loud if this ceasefire was ordered from Iran since they saw Israel was not backing down to their attacks in Northern Israel.
They were probably betting on President Trump stopping Israel from doing anything.
Maybe that was the background we were not seeing.