The cease-fire will go into effect at 4 a.m. local time (9 p.m. ET on Nov. 26).
Israel and Hezbollah have agreed to a cease-fire that is set to end more than a year of cross-border air and rocket attacks and two months of Israel’s ground war to drive the Hezbollah terrorist group away from Israel’s northern frontier.
The cease-fire will go into effect at 4 a.m. local time (9 p.m. ET on Nov. 26).
The deal calls for Israel to evacuate Lebanese territory within 60 days, and for the Lebanese army to move in and secure the area.
Lebanon has committed to having its army continue Israel’s work of destroying Hezbollah’s fortifications near the Israeli border, including tunnels meant to enable an Oct. 7-style attack.
A committee of five countries will monitor the agreement’s phases and its full implementation. The committee will also enforce the deal and prevent violations. If the committee fails to get Hezbollah to enforce fire discipline, Israel will have a free hand to act.
The deal was reached after Biden’s envoy, Amos Hochstein, traveled to Lebanon and then Israel to confer with Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, empowered by Hezbollah to negotiate on its behalf, and then with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Reports emerged on Nov. 24 that a deal was close. Netanyahu was in agreement and planned to present it to his cabinet on Nov. 25.
The agreement aims to end the fighting, which has killed over 3,500 Lebanese—more than half Hezbollah fighters, according to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF)—more than 70 Israelis plus 50 IDF soldiers killed in the offensive. The war forced between 60,000 and 80,000 residents of Israeli border communities from their homes for more than a year.
Under the agreement, Hezbollah must withdraw its forces north of the Litani River. That would put the terrorist group 10 to 15 miles from most of Israel’s northern frontier.
This is not the first time Israel has sought this withdrawal. It is called for as well in U.N. Resolution 1701, passed in 2006, to wind down a previous war between Hezbollah and Israel. But it was never implemented.
By Dan M. Berger
