Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire to take effect Wednesday, Biden says
WASHINGTON - President Joe Biden delivered remarks from the Rose Garden Tuesday afternoon, stating that the Prime Ministers of Lebanon and Israel have accepted the United States’ proposal to end the 14 months of conflict between Israel and Hezbollah.
Biden called the Israel and Hezbollah ceasefire "good news" as the sides come to terms on an agreement to pause fighting.
Biden stressed that Israel reserved the right to quickly resume operations in Lebanon if Hezbollah breaks the terms of the truce.
The president added that the deal between Israel and Hezbollah "was designed to be a permanent cessation of hostilities." The ceasefire took effect at 4 a.m. local time on Wednesday.
Sec. of Defense Lloyd Austin released a statement Wednesday evening following the "historic" ceasefire deal
"This diplomatic resolution will enable tens of thousands of civilians in both Lebanon and Israel to return safely to their homes on both sides of the border, and to put an end to the violence and destruction of this conflict," Lloyd said.
According to The Associated Press, Israeli airstrikes shook Beirut moments after Biden said Israel and Hezbollah agreed to the ceasefire deal.
In the hours leading up to the Cabinet meeting, Israel carried out its most intense wave of strikes in Beirut and its southern suburbs and issued a record number of evacuation warnings. At least 24 people were killed in strikes across the country, according to local authorities, as Israel signaled it aims to keep pummeling Hezbollah in the final hours before any ceasefire takes hold.
U.S. President Joe Biden speaks about a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon, in the Rose Garden of the White House on November 26, 2024, in Washington, DC. (Credit: SAUL LOEB / AFP via Getty Images)
Earlier on Tuesday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that he would recommend his Cabinet adopt a United States-brokered ceasefire agreement with Lebanon’s Hezbollah – a breakthrough in the long-running violence.
Hezbollah began attacking Israel on Oct. 8, 2023, a day after Hamas’ attack on southern Israel, in support of the Palestinian militant group. That has set off more than a year of fighting that escalated into all-out war in September with massive Israeli airstrikes across Lebanon and an Israeli ground invasion of the country’s south.
More than 3,760 people have been killed by Israeli fire in Lebanon the past 13 months, many of them civilians, according to Lebanese health officials. The bombardment has driven 1.2 million people from their homes.
Netanyahu speaks on cease-fire deal with Hezbollah
Israel has agreed a ceasefire with Lebanon, Israel's Channel 12 television reported on Tuesday, clearing the way for an end to a conflict between Israel and Lebanon's Hezbollah that has killed thousands of people since it was ignited by the Gaza war last year. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, held a press conference discussing the cease-fire deal.
Meanwhile, the United States, Egypt and Qatar have spent months trying to broker a ceasefire agreement in which Hamas would release its remaining Israeli hostages in exchange for an end to the war. Those talks fizzled out over the summer.
Protests and counterprotests over U.S. military support for Israel roiled U.S. college campuses in the spring, and the support caused division among Democratic voters this election.
Arrest warrants for Netanyahu
Arrest warrants were issued on Thursday by the International Criminal Court for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his former defense minister, and Hamas officials – accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Netanyahu on Thursday condemned the arrest warrant from the ICC against him, saying Israel "rejects with disgust the absurd and false actions." In a statement released by his office, he added: "There is nothing more just than the war that Israel has been waging in Gaza."
RELATED: Arrest warrants for Netanyahu, Hamas officials issued by International Criminal Court
Overall, Netanyahu and other Israeli leaders have condemned ICC Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan’s request for warrants as disgraceful and antisemitic.
U.S. President Joe Biden also criticized the prosecutor and expressed support for Israel’s right to defend itself against Hamas. Hamas also blasted the request.
Meanwhile, human rights groups have applauded the recent decision.
"The ICC arrest warrants against senior Israeli leaders and a Hamas official break through the perception that certain individuals are beyond the reach of the law," the associate international justice director at Human Rights Watch, Balkees Jarrah, said in a statement.