Hezbollah and Israel - a ceasefire as cause for celebration in amongst the darkness is war

[mids2019]

Hezbollah and Israel seen to be coming to a truce and Israelis will be soon able to return home as well as the people of Lebanon being safer. Of course it looks like Hezbollah have been seriously damaged and may takes years to rearm.

So ceasefire in at least one region of the middle East so is this something we can all agree is a good rhing?

Yes.
I do hope and pray it happens and they have peace.
Also, that Hezbollah does disappear.
Lebanon needs an army under the control of the government. Not a parallel one.

I guess it's a relatively good day.

Very muted celebration, but yes. Hopefully Hezbollah won't regroup and there will be peace in at least one area of the ME.

It's good news.

Hopefully Hezbollah will stop firing missiles into northern Israel as they have done since after October 7th 2023. Israel can end its war on one front.

Innocents will be safer.

Hopefully a ceasefire in Gaza next with release of the remaining hostages.

Yes it is good news but as Biden was announcing it, Israel stepped up its bombing of Beruit. Netanyahu has stated rhetoric meaning Israel will still bomb anything they think might possibly be even with no proof be Hezbollah rebuilding “a home to use as a terrorist base” or “routes to smuggle arms”

A positive sign was Iran saying they agree with it and want de-escalation.

@SummerFeverVenice you mentioned Iran agree with the ceasefire. Hezbollah really must have been hit hard then. Iran pushed Hezbollah out there funded them and watched them be decimated. That's a proxy

You'd expect more hope from this announcement. Deescalation in the region is definitely a good thing.

The escalation leading up to the ceasefire was not one-sided: Hezbollah sent pretty much nonstop rocket fire and drones into Israel yesterday evening. Unfortunately that's just what always happens before a ceasefire comes into effect.

Netanyahu can say what he wants to his base but there is a formal ceasefire agreement including mechanisms in the agreement to oversee the ceasefire. The agreement is based on the already existing UN resolution 1701, which Hezbollah had systematically violated.

Personally, I was woken last night by three loud bangs then a siren going off for the last heavy rocket fire into Israel, and I have to say that I will not miss taking a sleeping child into the safe room, nor the sirens nor the fear of driving home from work on country road with no shelter anywhere at exactly the time that Hezbollah often sent rockets into that area. Enough already. It's time to find a better way. The ceasefire doesn't solve all the problems but as someone said on my Facebook: ceasefire is better than fire.

Stay safe.

Yes ceasefire is better than fire. A step in the right direction

I really hope for everyone on both sides this is the beginning of a more peaceful future.

Many of the Lebanese are returning home to a pile of rubble - I don't know if there have been any discussions yet as to how rebuilding will be achieved and funded?

Gloria, so will many of the Israeli's, once they are told it's safe for them to go home. I am not diminishing the pain of the Lebanese who are returning home to destroyed homes, but it is frustrating that the equivalent situation for Israeli villagers is missing from the conversation. There have been thousands of homes and buildings destroyed by rockets up north.

And I echo Israelilefty, "The escalation leading up to the ceasefire was not one-sided". I have family a bit further north than me, and a sibling who works in Tel Aviv, and they had an escalation in rocket/drone attacks. I actually was more hopeful there would be a ceasefire because of that, because it is a predictable pattern.

I'm feeling relieved about the ceasefire. Cautiously optimistic that it looks like it might also have a knock on positive effect on negotiations with Hamas.

@EllaDisenchanted you are of course right that many Israelis are also suffering the distress of losing their homes but the difference in scale is quite marked. The World Bank estimates 100,000 Lebanese homes have been damaged or destroyed whereas the Times of Israel estimates that 2,874 structures in Israel have been damaged including 841 that will need to be completely rebuilt. While the individual suffering may well be the same on both sides, the scale, and indeed access immediate resources is very different.

Good insight for anyone interested.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c5ygn5579gvo

Jeremy Bowen? Really?

FFS

But the 'announcement' from Israel that this means more soldiers are available to fight Hammas is surely a very sad and disappointing comment. So as some rejoice it means an escalation in violence for others. Was the cease-fire encouraged for this reason and not one of peace and goodwill. Prayers to all those suffering.

Is there something in the article you object to? What's the issue?

Oh dear. The Associated Press (American not for profit news agency based in New York City) is alleging that Israeli troops have broken the ceasefire:

”Three journalists, including a freelance photographer working for The Associated Press, said they were shot and wounded by Israeli troops while covering the return of displaced people to the town of Khiam, around 6 kilometers (4 miles) from the border, which had seen heavy fighting in recent days. The Israeli military said it was investigating.”
https://apnews.com/article/israel-palestinians-hamas-lebanon-hezbollah-11-27-2024-f2c5ad31f5519f8dd368504e6634cd2f

Praying there is no retaliation.

More violations of the ceasefire today

Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire under threat after attacks in southern Lebanon
https://uk.news.yahoo.com/israel-hezbollah-ceasefire-under-threat-141500423.html

Praying for the ceasefire to turn into a REAL ceasefire and all the civilians to be able to return home, school and work in peace.
I feel deeply for those left with rabble instead of their home.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c5yg1pq1x57o

"But there are some in these northern communities who have refused to evacuate during almost 14 months of war, staying on in abandoned towns that were regularly hit by Hezbollah rockets and missiles.

Chris Coyle, originally from Edinburgh, is one of only four residents left in his apartment complex in Kiryat Shmona."

We rarely heard tell of the constant bombardment of Northern Israeli towns. This war would not have happened if not for that. If hezbollah start up again when they regroup then war will happen again. Its in the hands of hezbollah.

Is this ceasefire holding after the initial incidents?
At least one front less to worry about?
Or are they still sending the occassional missile or offensive one way or another of the border?

The ceasefire, in my opinion, is largely one sided as only one side has ceased fire. Hezbollah in Lebanon is not firing while Israel is still bombing and doing ground tank operations in southern Lebanon.

However, the number of strikes is massively smaller than it was so it is a de-escalation. Israel says it is allowed to “enforce the ceasefire with fire” which is never the case in any ceasefire and from the news was never agreed to in the ceasefire documents. The Lebanese army was tasked with enforcing the ceasefire.

Lebanon is lodging formal complaints with the UN, US and France over this. (as the US supports Israel, France supports Lebanon).

Hezbollah, is retaliating to the ceasefire breaches not by firing back (which would cause ceasefire to totally collapse) but by refusing to disarm and is taking their weapons with them to north of the Litani river. The ceasefire required them to disarm and move north of the river. Israel is pointing to this as why they have broken the ceasefire but the timing of events is clear- Israel broke it first by keeping on bombing and striking and Hezbollah deciding to take their arms with them was days later in response to Israel’s breach, not the cause of it.

Currently, Israel is attacking Hezbollah as they retreat north of the Litani river. Israel isn’t withdrawing out of Lebanon yet as they have until the ceasefire deadline and interpret that as meaning they can continue to fire on Hezbollah wherever they think they may be (they have upon occaision missed and killed civilians instead), up until the 11th hour and then race back across the border. Part of the Lebanese complaint is that this isn’t what was discussed, the parties had agreed to an orderly withdrawal of Israel as the Lebanese army moved south. Regardless, that wasn’t specified in writing and so Israel feels it legally has latitude in how and when it withdraws. Unfortunately, Israel has mistaken Lebanese army for Hezbollah and killed a few. So this is now a situation fraught with yet more dying from cases of being mistaken for Hezbollah.

It remains to be seen whether Israel will abide by the deadline to pull out of Lebanon, push for an extension or ignore it. What will happen depends on which faction in the government gets their way as there is no broad consensus.

Thanks so much @SummerFeverVenice
We cannot really trust a single word, whether written or spoken. They always seem to find a way to not ceasefire.
As you say, at least amounts to a descalation.
Fingers crossed.