A dispatch from my colleague William Christou, who is on the ground in Lebanon:
The roads leading from Beirut to south Lebanon were filled with traffic just hours after a ceasefire was established between Hezbollah and Israel.
Hezbollah and the Amal political movement issued guidelines for residents who wanted to return to their villages, south of the Litani river – though the Lebanese state had yet to advise their citizens.
Lebanese reported that they had received calls with pre-recorded warnings from Israel, telling them to not return to the south as it is still a military area.
Doubts over whether the ceasefire would hold were widespread, as the smell of the overnight bombing hung over the southern suburbs of Beirut and an Israeli drone buzzed overhead, despite the ceasefire.
Nonetheless, residents had already returned to south Lebanon, whooping and cheering as they drove into Tyre, the second largest city in south Lebanon. Much of Tyre and surrounding cities lay in ruin, after two months of Israeli bombing.
Key events
Reuters reports that Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri has this morning told it that the group hopes for a deal to end the war in Gaza, and says Hamas “appreciates” Lebanon’s right to reach an agreement with Israel.
In recent weeks, after nearly a year of efforts, Qatar pulled out of mediating ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas, saying it did not believe that either side were continuing to negotiate in good faith.
Turkey has called for Israel to pay reparations for damage in Lebanon caused by its recent military campaign.
In a message offering support for the ceasefire agreement which came into force earlier today, Reuters reports the foreign ministry said:
It is imperative for the international community to exert pressure on Israel to fully comply with the ceasefire and to provide reparations for the damages it has caused in Lebanon.
Turkey also repeated its call for a ceasefire in Gaza.
The number of people killed by Israeli strikes on Gaza on Wednesday morning has risen to 15, according to medics.
Reuters reports that the dead include two sons of former Hamas spokesperson, Fawzi Barhoum.
Israeli media reports that, after the ceasefire came into effect, the IDF fired warning shots at what it suspected were Hezbollah operatives in the Lebanese village of Kfarkela.
Posting to social media, and citing the IDF, Kan news military correspondent Itay Blumental reported:
In the last hour, IDF forces identified a number of vehicles in Lebanese territory with suspected Hezbollah operatives, in a restricted area near Kfarkela. The forces fired to prevent their arrival in the area, and the suspects moved away. The IDF says that the air force is prepared to act. The territory of Lebanon and the air defence system is on high alert. As of this time, there is no change in the directives of the Home front command.
Kfarkela is directly opposite the Israeli town of Metula, at almost the very northern tip of Israeli-controlled territory.
Egypt’s foreign ministry has issued a statement saying it welcomes the ceasefire in Lebanon, and that it will lead to de-escalation in the region, Reuters reports.
In a round of diplomacy in the region, Jordan’s King Abdullah II is heading to Egypt today, and then on to Cyprus.
Palestinian news agency Wafa reports that “a number of citizens, including children and women” have been killed by continued Israeli airstrikes on Gaza since dawn. Strikes are reported to have taken place on Gaza City and Beit Lahia, and 12 people are reported killed.
It has not been possible for journalists to independently verify the casualty figures being issued during the conflict.
Not everybody on the Israeli side of the UN-drawn blue line that separates Israel and Lebanon is optimistic that the ceasefire will represent a long-term end to hostilities.
Speaking to Israel’s army radio, Gabby Neeman, the mayor of the northern city of Shlomi, said many Israelis will continue to stay away from their homes at present.
Neeman met with Benjamin Netanyahu ahead of the ceasefire agreement, and said afterwards “Everything we were shown testifies to the fact that the next round is ahead of us, whether in a month, two months or 10 years.”
Summary of the day so far
It’s coming up on 9am in Tel Aviv, Beirut and Gaza. Here’s a recap of the latest developments:
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A 60-day ceasefire agreement brokered by the US between Israel and Hezbollah came into force at 4am local time (2am GMT) on Wednesday. If it holds, it represents a major milestone in the 14-month-old war in Lebanon, and will see Israel withdraw entirely from southern Lebanon, while Hezbollah will move its heavy weaponry north of the Litani River, about 18 miles (25km) north of the border.
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Joe Biden, the US president, hailed the “historic” deal and said it was designed to be a “permanent cessation of hostilities”. Biden issued a joint statement with his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron, pledging that both countries would work with Israel and Lebanon to ensure the agreement is “fully implemented and enforced”.
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The Israeli military warned displaced Lebanese residents from the country’s south that they could not return immediately as it remained a military area. “We will update you when it is safe to return to your homes,” the army’s spokesperson said in a post on social media. Though the ceasefire terms stipulate the IDF must withdraw completely from southern Lebanon within the 60-day period, it is not expected take place immediately.
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Lebanon’s army said on Wednesday morning it is preparing to deploy to the south of the country. The deployment is in accordance with UN resolution 1701 – which formed the basis of the Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire.
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Despite those warnings, streams of cars carrying people displaced from southern Lebanon in recent months began heading south early on Wednesday after the ceasefire came into force. Some celebratory gunshots could be heard in parts of Beirut’s southern suburbs. Residents whooped and cheered as they drove into Tyre, the second largest city in south Lebanon.
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Importantly for Israel, Hezbollah dropped its demand that a ceasefire in Lebanon was contingent on ending the fighting in Gaza. The Israel-Hezbollah deal will not have any direct effect on the fighting in Gaza, where US efforts to broker a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas have not led to a deal. “Just as the Lebanese people deserve a future of security and prosperity, so do the people of Gaza,” Biden said during his address on Tuesday.
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Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister, endorsed the ceasefire after his full cabinet approved the deal. He said Israel would retain “complete military freedom of action” and would respond “forcefully” if Hezbollah violated the agreement. In televised remarks, Netanyahu said that there were three reasons to pursue a ceasefire: to focus on the threat from Iran; replenish depleted arms supplies and rest tired reservists; and to isolate Hamas.
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News of the Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire deal was welcomed by world leaders. The UK’s prime minister, Keir Starmer, called for the ceasefire to be turned into “a lasting political solution”, adding that Britain and its allies would continue to be at the “forefront of efforts to break the ongoing cycle of violence” to achieve a “long-term, sustainable” peace in the Middle East. The president of the EU commission, Ursula von der Leyen, described it as “very encouraging news”.
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Iran on Wednesday said it welcomed the end of Israel’s “aggression” in Lebanon, after a ceasefire deal came into force between Israel and Hezbollah, an armed group backed financially and militarily by Tehran. It reiterated its support for the Lebanese government.
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Israeli airstrikes continued to pound Beirut even as Biden announced the ceasefire deal late on Tuesday and right down to the final hour before the truce took effect.
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At least 3,823 people have been killed and 15,859 others wounded in Israeli strikes on Lebanon since October 2023, according to the Lebanese health ministry on Tuesday. The latest figures include 55 people killed and 160 injured in strikes on Monday alone, the ministry said.
Syria has revised the death toll upward to six in the alleged Israeli strikes late on Tuesday which targeted Lebanon’s three northern border crossings with Syria for the first time (see earlier post here). For clarity: the strikes occurred before Wednesday morning’s ceasefire took effect.
Syria’s state news agency reported four civilians and two soldiers were killed, and 12 people were wounded including children, women and Syrian Red Crescent workers.
The Red Crescent said earlier a volunteer was killed and another was injured in “the aggression that targeted Al-Dabousyeh and Al-Arida crossings … as they were performing their humanitarian duty of rescuing the wounded early on Wednesday.”
Here’s more from William Christou, reporting for the Guardian:
The Lebanese army said on Wednesday morning that it was deploying in south Lebanon in accordance with UN resolution 1701 – which formed the basis of the Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire. The resolution calls for the withdrawal of Hezbollah fighters north of the Litani river – about 18 miles from the Lebanon-Israel border – and the withdrawal of Israeli troops from south Lebanon.
The Lebanese army told residents of border villages not to return yet, as Israeli forces had not withdrawn from the villages.
“Now we’re returning! We’re just waiting for authorisation from the army and we’ll go straight to the village – even though there are no houses left,” said Rita Darwish, a displaced resident of Dheira, a village directly on the border which was remotely detonated by Israel last month.
The highway leading back to south Lebanon was choked with traffic, filled with cars filled with families and mattresses strapped to their roofs. Families lined the roads near Saida, waving and cheering as cars passed by.
Despite the jubilation, doubts remained over how long the ceasefire might last. Israeli drones buzzed over the skies of Tyre and Beirut, a reminder that the war could resume at any moment.
Lebanon’s army says it is preparing to deploy to south Lebanon
Lebanon’s army said on Wednesday morning it is preparing to deploy to the south of the country, after a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah came into effect, Reuters reports.
The army also asked in a statement that residents of border villages delay returning home until the Israeli military withdraws.
“With the ceasefire coming into effect, the army is taking the necessary measures to complete its deployment in the south,” the army said in a statement. “The army command calls on citizens to wait before returning to frontline villages and towns that Israeli enemy forces have penetrated, awaiting their withdrawal.”
The Lebanese army is expected to deploy 5,000 troops to the south under the ceasefire agreement, to help fill the breach after the IDF vacates. The call for displaced residents to delay their return also echoes an earlier warning from the Israeli military.
A dispatch from my colleague William Christou, who is on the ground in Lebanon:
The roads leading from Beirut to south Lebanon were filled with traffic just hours after a ceasefire was established between Hezbollah and Israel.
Hezbollah and the Amal political movement issued guidelines for residents who wanted to return to their villages, south of the Litani river – though the Lebanese state had yet to advise their citizens.
Lebanese reported that they had received calls with pre-recorded warnings from Israel, telling them to not return to the south as it is still a military area.
Doubts over whether the ceasefire would hold were widespread, as the smell of the overnight bombing hung over the southern suburbs of Beirut and an Israeli drone buzzed overhead, despite the ceasefire.
Nonetheless, residents had already returned to south Lebanon, whooping and cheering as they drove into Tyre, the second largest city in south Lebanon. Much of Tyre and surrounding cities lay in ruin, after two months of Israeli bombing.
Here is our latest full report taking in the first few hours of the ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah:
A highly anticipated ceasefire aimed at ending the 14-month-old war between Israel and Hezbollah officially came into effect early on Wednesday morning, hours after Joe Biden hailed the “historic” moment.
The ceasefire officially began at 0200 GMT – 4am in Lebanon – after the heaviest day of raids on Beirut, including a series of strikes in the city’s centre, since Israel stepped up its air campaign in Lebanon in late September before sending in ground troops.
By 7am in Lebanon there were no immediate reports of alleged violations of the truce. Some celebratory gunshots could be heard in parts of Beirut’s southern suburbs.
The Israeli army warned soon after the ceasefire began that residents of south Lebanon should not approach Israel Defense Forces positions and villages its forces had ordered to be evacuated.
“With the entry into force of the ceasefire agreement and based on its provisions, the IDF remains deployed in its positions inside southern Lebanon,” army spokesperson Avichay Adraee said in a post on X.
“You are prohibited from heading towards the villages that the IDF has ordered to be evacuated or towards IDF forces in the area.”
However, Reuters reporters saw dozens of cars leaving the port city of Sidon south of Beirut around 4am local time and heading deeper into southern Lebanon.
Displaced people started returning to the coastal city of Tyre on motorcycles and in cars early Wednesday, defying an Israeli military warning to stay away from previously evacuated areas.
Ahmad Husseini said returning to southern Lebanon was an “indescribable feeling” and praised Speaker of parliament Nabih Berri, who led Lebanon’s negotiations with Washington. “He made us and everyone proud.”
Husseini, who earlier fled a town near the coastal city, spoke to The Associated Press while in his car with family members.
Meanwhile, sporadic celebratory gunfire can be heard at a main roundabout in the city, as people returning honked the horns of cars – some piled with mattresses – and residents cheered.
A couple of men shouted slogans praising slain Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, who was killed in an Israeli airstrike in September.
Hussein Sweidan said he sees the ceasefire as a victory for Hezbollah. “This is a moment of victory, pride and honor for us, the Shia sect, and for all of Lebanon,” he said.
Some more images crossing the wires as the day breaks in Lebanon:
The UN humanitarian agency OCHA says the UN has been unable to reach people in Jabalia, Beit Lahiya and Beit Hanoun, in the north of the Gaza Strip, as it continues to face denials from Israeli authorities.
“Between 1 and 25 November, the UN attempted to reach these besieged areas 41 times,” OCHA said in its latest update.
Thirty-seven of these attempts were outright denied, while four were initially approved, but then severely impeded on the ground such that the assistance could not be delivered to people trapped in the besieged area.
Families recently displaced to Gaza City are facing critical shortages of supplies and services, severe overcrowding and dire hygiene conditions.
With the onset of heavy rains, over 1.6 million people living in makeshift shelters – nearly half a million of whom are in flood-prone areas urgently need adequate shelter, the agency said.
Iran welcomes end of Israel ‘aggression’ in Lebanon
Iran on Wednesday said it welcomed the end of Israel’s “aggression” in Lebanon, after a ceasefire deal came into force between Israel and Hezbollah, an armed group backed financially and militarily by Tehran.
“Welcoming the news” of the end of Israel’s “aggression against Lebanon”, foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said in a statement, AFP reported, stressing Iran’s “firm support for the Lebanese government, nation and resistance”.
Iranian affairs expert Tohid Asadi told Al Jazeera that Iran’s leaders are following the ceasefire in Lebanon closely, with the top priority for Tehran being “the extent to which this is going to be translated into de-escalation”.
“This is the key objective for Iran – not to see an escalated situation, not to see an all-out war scenario,” the Tehran-based Asadi said.
As images continue to come in of displaced Lebanese returning to their homes in the country’s south, this story by the Guardian’s Jason Burke is worth a read for the view from Kiryat Shmona in northern Israel.
“We are not expecting a promise of eternal peace,” one resident says. “I just want a quiet life to raise my kids and I know that the Lebanese people over the fence want the same … All wars end in diplomatic agreements so this will too.”
