Hugo Bachega
Middle East correspondent

We continue our journey from Beirut to southern Lebanon. We're progressing - slowly, very slowly - and still have not reached Sidon, the first major city on the coast.

This despite being on the road for more than four hours. Usually, it is a trip that takes 20 minutes, half an hour on busier days. Cars that took different routes are now converging onto the main highway, which is making the traffic worse.

Some are driving on the opposite carriageway. Along the way, there were people distributing bottles of water, groups who had stopped by the road seemed to be celebrating as they waved Hezbollah flags.

One man told us that this, the return of thousands of residents to their home, is proof of their victory in this war - and that the killing of Hezbollah's former leader Hassan Nasrallah was the only loss they had suffered.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) says that in the "past few hours" it has fired at "suspects" in southern Lebanon.

In a brief statement, its says its forces remain in southern Lebanon and will "actively enforce every violation of the ceasefire agreement".

It follows an earlier statement – which also came after the ceasefire began – where the IDF said it had fired at a vehicle in southern Lebanon that was travelling "in a zone prohibited for movement in Lebanese territory".

When the deal was first announced, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his country would not hesitate to strike if Hezbollah breaks the terms.

“If Hezbollah violates the agreement and tries to arm itself, we will attack. If it tries to rebuild terrorist infrastructure near the border, we will attack. If it launches a rocket, if it digs a tunnel, if it brings in a truck carrying rockets, we will attack,” Netanyahu said yesterday.

US President Joe Biden supported that view, telling reporters: "If Hezbollah or anyone else breaks the deal and poses a direct threat to Israel, then Israel retains the right to self-defence consistent with international law."

• Read more on what we know about the ceasefire deal

Lebanon ceasefire follows pressure from many sidespublished at 11:15 Greenwich Mean Time 27 November 2024

11:15 GMT 27 November 2024

Jeremy Bowen
International Editor

Hezbollah were keen for a ceasefire in Lebanon after Israel delivered some major blows over the past couple of months.

Their patrons in Iran also wanted to take the pressure off all of this.

The Israelis were under some pressure from the Americans to do this.

And there's something else quite telling in Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's own statement, saying that this will give Israel a chance to rebuild its weapons-stocks and to concentrate on the war in Gaza.

I think the calculation on the Israeli side is that Hezbollah will now pull back from the border, and the northern border of Israel with Lebanon will be a lot quieter and people on both sides will be able to return to their homes.

But just because Israel and Hezbollah have reached an agreement, that does not mean to say that it is a precursor to a ceasefire in Gaza because the situation in Gaza is way more complicated.

Rami Ruhayem
Reporting from Lebanon

I’m in Dahieh, an area which has been heavily affected by war having been bombed for almost two months now. People are trying to check on their homes, trying to go and see the extent of the damage to their neighbourhoods.

This street in particular is surprisingly empty so far, we haven’t managed to go deeper into the southern suburbs, but you can still see that there have been strikes here in several locations. You can see various levels of damage to the buildings around here.

Hundreds of thousands of people left this area. Now we can see a few cars coming in with Hezbollah flags; there’s still a trickle of traffic here on this particular street, and we’ve been hearing about other areas of Dahieh where there’s a lot more traffic.

Some buildings are standing but at risk of collapse; this is something we’ve been told by officials here in Dahieh, that it’s not safe just because it’s still standing. There has to be an effort now by specialists and architects to inspect a very large number of buildings and find out which are safe to return to and which ones might be at risk.

Image source, Getty Images

We've had an update from the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), confirming that it struck Hezbollah targets "in Beirut and throughout Lebanon" shortly before the ceasefire came into effect.

In a statement, external, the Israeli military says that it conducted strikes on "dozens" of Hezbollah command centres and infrastructure sites in Beirut, Tyre and Nabatieh before the halt in fighting.

The IDF also confirms that it hit "several smuggling routes" between Syria and Lebanon. It says this was to "prevent Hezbollah's ability to re-arm" ahead of the ceasefire.

The Israeli military adds that steps were taken "to mitigate the possibility of harming civilians" before these strikes, and it says the IDF will remain vigilant now that a ceasefire is in place.

Lucy Williamson
Reporting from Jerusalem

Image source, Getty Images

Israel’s former prime minister, Ehud Olmert, told the BBC shortly before the ceasefire was confirmed that the lesson of the war in Lebanon was that Israel needed to make every possible effort to make peace with its neighbours, first and foremost the Palestinians.

“Time has come to have the courage to compromise,” Olmert said. “Time has come for us to understand that we can't continue to reoccupy it forever, that it will not work, that the cost of it is going to be much beyond the ability of us to absorb, or to tolerate, or accept it.”

Olmert is currently pressing for fresh Israel-Palestinian peace negotiations. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to continue the war in Gaza until “total victory”.

“We have to be much less arrogant,” Olmert continued. “We don't have to think that we are the policemen of all the region of all the world. We are not.”

On the ceasefire with Lebanon, he said it should have been agreed long before: “there was not any reason not to do it half a year ago, rather than to start the grand operation that cost the lives of many Israeli soldiers and probably also some civilians in Lebanon."

BBC Monitoring

Iran’s media, newspapers and officials on Wednesday hailed the end of Israel's "aggression" in Lebanon, viewing it as a defeat for Israel and a victory for Lebanese Hezbollah, an armed group backed financially and militarily by Tehran.

Hardline daily papers praised Hezbollah’s military actions over the course of the conflict and predicted a crisis looming for Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu.

The conservative daily Agah said Hezbollah's strength “disrupted the Zionists' calculations”, while the newspaper Jaam-e Jam praised "the Resistance" for supposedly forcing the ceasefire to happen. A commentary in Farhikhtegan said Netanyahu was "signing his own death certificate" by agreeing to the deal.

MP Alireza Salimi, a member of parliament's presidium, celebrated the news saying "the Zionists with all their support from the West lost to Hezbollah", describing Israel’s move as “an act of desperation".

Foreign ministry spokesman, Esmaeil Baghaei, said Iran was "welcoming the news" of the end of Israel's "aggression against Lebanon". In a statement, he stressed Iran's "firm support for the Lebanese government, nation and resistance" and urged the global community to act decisively to ensure peace and stability in the region.

The ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon involved a number of international parties; it was brokered by the US, while France is expected to help monitor the truce.

This morning, Turkey has also offered its support to establish “internal peace” in Lebanon. In a post on X, its foreign ministry calls for the international community to “exert pressure” on Israel to “provide reparations for the damages it has caused in Lebanon”.

Iran, which supports Hezbollah, says it welcomes the news of the end of Israel’s “aggression against Lebanon”.

While a ceasefire begins in Lebanon, fighting continues further south in Gaza. This has prompted Jordan - which borders the east of Israel - to call for greater international efforts to bring an end to the war in Gaza.

The UK's Prime Minister Keir Starmer agrees. He says that the deal must become a "lasting solution" in Lebanon, before adding that there must be "immediate progress" towards a ceasefire deal in Gaza.

We're now hearing from Khalil Helou - a former Lebanese army general from Beirut - who says the ceasefire deal is an opportunity for the Lebanese army to "assert itself" in southern Lebanon.

Asked how hopeful he is that the deal will hold, Helou says he hopes the army will deploy "once and for all" in southern Lebanon, according to the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701.

"It’s not only a matter of hope, it’s a matter of taking responsibility," he tells BBC News.

He adds that the Lebanese army was until now facing a dilemma due to successive Lebanese governments recognising Hezbollah's right to fight Israel, while also trying to stick to Resolution 1701.

"This political schizophrenia put the army in a dilemma that was very difficult to solve or take as a basis for action," Helou says, adding that the army was "managing the situation on a day-to-day basis".

Helou says Hezbollah "hijacked" the Lebanese political decision, and did not consult the government or army before entering the war with Israel.

"The Lebanese army is facing an exam. I think that this is a chance for the army to assert itself in south Lebanon," he says.

Yolande Knell
Middle East correspondent, in Jerusalem

After 14 months of fighting that has gone on in parallel to the Gaza war, this morning there is relative calm across the Israel-Lebanon border.

The ceasefire calls for a two-month halt to hostilities and requires Hezbollah to end its armed presence in southern Lebanon.

Thousands of Lebanese army troops and UN peacekeepers are due to move there, as Israeli soldiers return to their side of the border. An international panel headed by the US will monitor compliance.

The Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati welcomed the deal and Israel’s security cabinet voted for it.

However, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu threatened that his country would “strike decisively” if Hezbollah violated the agreement or tried to rearm.

Israel’s military is warning evacuated residents of southern Lebanon not to head home yet, saying its forces remain deployed there.

Hamas officials have been reacting positively to the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hezbollah, saying they now hope for a similar deal in Gaza.

"We have informed mediators in Egypt, Qatar and Turkey that Hamas is ready for a ceasefire agreement and a serious deal to exchange prisoners," a Hamas official told AFP on Wednesday.

As a reminder, last night's ceasefire deal involves Israel, the Lebanese militia Hezbollah, and the Lebanese government.

Israel and Hezbollah have exchanged fire almost every day since 8 October last year, after Hezbollah launched rockets at Israel in support of Hamas, the Palestinian militant group Israel is still fighting in Gaza.

Talks for a ceasefire and hostage deal in Gaza have been deadlocked for months.

This month, Qatar withdrew from its role as a mediator between Israel and Hamas.

The country said it would resume its work when Hamas and Israel "show their willingness" to negotiate.

US President Joe Biden's announcement on Tuesday of a ceasefire deal is set to end more than a year of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah. Here are some of the details of the deal we've learned from officials and media reports:

• It is meant to be a permanent deal: The deal outlines that Hezbollah and Israel will have 60 days to remove its fighters and weapons from the region and the Blue Line - the unofficial border between Lebanon and Israel - and the Litani river, about 30km (20 miles) to the north
• Lebanese troops to replace Hezbollah: The Lebanese army is expected to deploy 5,000 troops to the south under the agreement, according to a US official. But there are questions about whether the country's military can or would confront Hezbollah forces in the area if needed
• How the ceasefire will be monitored: The US and France are joining the existing tripartite mechanism that was charged with monitoring violations of previous conflicts, which involves UN peacekeepers Unifil, Lebanon and Israel. Both Israel and Hezbollah have claimed the other violated previous ceasefire agreements
• Israel claims right to respond to violations: Prime Minister Netanyahu said that Israel would “maintain full freedom of military action” in Lebanon “with the United States' full understanding”. Netanyahu cited moves like the group attempting to arm itself, rebuilding infrastructure or using rockets as reasons to attack

Read more on what we know about the deal.

A little earlier we reported on the Lebanese government saying it is committed to implementing a UN Security Council resolution that ended the 2006 Israeli-Hezbollah war.

The ceasefire deal that came into effect overnight closely resembles the terms of that previous agreement, formally known as UN Security Council resolution 1701.

The resolution effectively aims to create a buffer zone in southern Lebanon between Israeli and Hezbollah forces, with Lebanese and UN forces occupying the area.

So under the resolution, areas south of the Litani river should be free of any armed personnel or weapons other than those of the Lebanese state and the UN peacekeeping force (Unifil).

Both sides have repeatedly claimed violations of the resolution in the past.

Under the new ceasefire agreement, the US and France will join the existing tripartite mechanism, involving Unifil, Lebanon and Israel, and is charged with monitoring violations, according to a UN official.

Gaza conflict will be harder to solve than Lebanonpublished at 08:30 Greenwich Mean Time 27 November 2024

08:30 GMT 27 November 2024

Frank Gardner
Security correspondent in Jerusalem

In the dying days of the Biden presidency, this is supposed to be a big foreign policy achievement in the Middle East.

I think the region will be breathing a sigh of relief that at least one fire is being extinguished. Attention will now turn to Gaza, which is the main conflict in the region, and probably a harder one to solve.

The difference being that in Lebanon, the deal involves a government, whereas in Gaza, Hamas is proscribed by many governments in the West as a terrorist group, and Israel vowed to destroy it altogether after the attacks of 7 October last year. So that's going to be much tougher to do.

There is also the complicating factor of around 100 Israeli hostages still being held, presumably in tunnels beneath Gaza.

On balance, Tuesday was a good day for the Middle East. But over the next 60 days, people are going to be watching to see if the Israel-Lebanon peace deal actually holds.

We're now hearing reactions to the ceasefire agreement from former diplomats.

Tracy Chamoun, a former Lebanese ambassador to Jordan, says the deal comes as "a big relief to everybody, and especially those who have been displaced," and describes the moments before the agreement came into effect.

"Last night was one of the worst nights of bombing that we've had, as the Israelis tried to target as many sites as they could within the time frame remaining from them. There were about 40 strikes alone on the city of Baalbek, and Beirut was hit very very hard yesterday," she says in a BBC interview.

Gina Abercrombie-Winstanley, who is president of the Middle East Policy Council and a former US ambassador, says she is hopeful the ceasefire deal will hold.

The "IDF had unprecedented success with weakening Hezbollah", she says. That began with the targeting Hezbollah's pagers with explosives, and continued through attacks and assassinations of the group's senior leadership.

Then, "the ground invasion and overwhelming air power that devastated Hezbollah fighters in southern Lebanon and wreaked great havoc and destruction in Lebanon itself," Abercrombie-Winstanley tells BBC's 5 Live Breakfast programme.

"Both sides were feeling the strain of the active combat."

The Israel Defense Forces has released a statement saying that in the last hour it fired on a vehicle "with several suspects" that was travelling "in a zone prohibited for movement in Lebanese territory".

"The forces fired to prevent their arrival in the area, and the suspects moved away," it says.

In the statement, the IDF says it has been operating in accordance with the ceasefire agreement and "will operate against anyone who attempts to breach the … agreement".

When the deal was first announced, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his country would not hesitate to strike if Hezbollah breaks the terms.

The IDF statement says Israeli forces are "stationed at their positions in southern Lebanon" and that the air force "remains ready to act across Lebanese territory".

Image source, Reuters

Lebanon's environment minister and the co-ordinator of the government’s emergency response to the war, Nasser Yassin, has just been speaking to BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

He says the country is committed to implementing UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which ended the 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah and included measures to keep Hezbollah away from the Israeli border.

It's put to him that the terms of that resolution have not been met, and Yassin is asked if Lebanon and the UN will be able to stop Hezbollah from regrouping and attacking Israel.

He says that Lebanon is committed to implementing the agreement, which includes a measure to deploy Lebanese forces to the country's south.

He says that the country's army is "going to increase the number of soldiers and officers" to be "the authority of the Lebanese state in that area".

Yassin says Israel also must respect the resolution.

Hugo Bachega
Middle East correspondent

We are on our way to southern Lebanon, an area where there is strong support for Hezbollah, as thousands of people have started to return to their homes, hours after a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah came into effect.

There are traffic jams on the main highway between Beirut and the south, and cars are packed with families, bags, suitcases and mattresses. We have spotted many Hezbollah flags being waved in the windows.

Some people, when they see our camera, smile and make the "V" sign of victory. This return happens as Israeli and Lebanese authorities have warned people not to go back now.

Israeli forces are still in parts of the south, as their withdrawal is expected to be gradual during the 60-day ceasefire.

The Lebanese military, expected to boost its presence in the south with 5,000 additional soldiers, said it was taking the "necessary measures" to complete its deployment.

People displaced from southern Lebanon are returning home following a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hezbollah.

The IDF has warned residents to avoid moving south yet - but many in Lebanon have headed for their homes.

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Lucy Williamson
Reporting from Jerusalem

Image source, EPA

One poll yesterday suggested that more than 80% of Netanyahu’s support base opposed a ceasefire deal, and residents in the north of Israel - large numbers of whom have been evacuated from their homes - are angry too.

Nationally, the picture was more split, however. One poll showed 37% of Israelis in favour of the ceasefire, 32% against and 31% saying they didn't know.

Shelly, an English teacher in Shlomi, said a ceasefire was an “irresponsible and hasty political decision”.

Rona Valency, evacuated from kibbutz Kfar Giladi on 8 October last year, told me she wanted to go home, and that a ceasefire was needed, but that the idea of Lebanese residents returning to these border villages gave her "a real sense of unease and fright".

"The only thing I can hope for is that Hezbollah will not infiltrate these villages and build a new network," Rona told me. "Apart from completely erasing these villages, and having no people there, there is no real physical thing that can make me feel safe. It’s just, you know, hope."

Her husband, Onn, said the key to security lay not in the terms of the ceasefire agreement, but in people understanding "again, where we live; understand[ing] some things that a lot of us forgot".

He said he didn’t trust the Lebanese army, nor the Americans, to restore security along the border.

"I trust only our army," he said. "I think if the army won’t be there, it will be very, very hard to get the citizens back."