PRESIDENTS BIDEN AND MACRON ANNOUNCE CEASEFIRE AGREEMENT BETWEEN ISRAEL AND LEBANON
Biden hopes to next achieve a cease-fire in Gaza before his term ends, with an agreement for a Palestinian state and security for Israel
By Miriam Raftery
Photo, left: Hezbollah fighters in Southern Lebanon in 2023, via Tasnim News Service
November 28, 2024 (Washington D.C.) – In a historic accord, on Tuesday, U.S. President Joe Biden and President Emmanuel Macron of France issued a joint statement announcing that after “weeks of tireless diplomacy,” Israel and Lebanon have agreed to a cease fire that went into effect yesterday.
“The United States and France will work with Israel and Lebanon to ensure this arrangement is fully implemented and enforced,” the statement continued. Though the U.S. has supported Israel including sending war planes used to bomb Hezbollah targets, U.S. troops will not be sent to the region, the President assured.
The agreement includes assurances that Israel will be secure from threats by Hezbollah, which has been bombing Israel from southern Lebanon, and other terrorist groups. Hezbollah must move its forces north of the Litani River, about 20 miles from the Blue Line marking the Israel-Lebanon border.
Over the next six weeks, stabilization of southern Lebanon is to be provided by the Lebanese army and State Security Forces will deploy 10,000 troops, under international supervision. The agreement also includes withdrawal of Israeli forces, ultimately allowing residents of both Israel and southern Lebanon to return safely to their homes.
But President Biden made clear in a press conference, “This is designed to be a permanent cessation of hostilities.”
President Biden, in a press conference, noted that over 70,000 Israelis and over 300,000 Lebanese people have been forced to live as refugees in their own countries due to Hezbollah, an ally of Hamas, bombing Israeli communities and Israel retailing with military strikes in Lebanon targeting Hezbollah.
Photo, right, via Israeli Defense Forces: F-151 fighter jet provided by the Biden administration to Israel, shown here in bombing run against Hezbollah in southern Lebanon in September 2024.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said he supported the agreement, along with Israel’s Security Cabinet, to focus on the threat from Iran, which has backed Hezbollah, and to work toward bringing hostages taken by Hamas home now that Israeli actions have killed Hezbollah’s leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah and decimated its ranks. Netanyahu has made clear that Israel reserves the right to respond militarily if the agreement is violated, such as if Hezbollah resumes bombing, building tunnels or bringing in more weapons, San Diego Jewish World reports.
The peace is a fragile one. Already in the past 24 hours, each side has accused the other of violating the cease-fire. Israel claims Hezbollah was moving its people into the no-go zone, and responded with warning shots from drones followed by bombing of a missile storage site. Hezbollah has claimed these were Lebanese civilians returning, though civilians have been warned to stay out of the area until it has been made safe.
Mike Huckabeee, Trump’s U.S. ambassador to Israel designee, told Fox News the peace agreement is “certainly good news” for both Israelis and Lebanese, “if it holds, but the problem is that Hezbollah and its Iranian backed proxies like Hamas and the Houthis, they’ve never kept an agreement.”
Al Jazeera, an Arab news service, reports that tens of thousands of displaced Lebanese have begun returning home to southern Lebanon and celebrating in the streets, despite warnings from the Israeli military to wait until it is secured and Israeli forces have withdrawn.
Congressman Darrell Issa, a Republican from San Diego who is of Lebanese descent, refused to acknowledge Biden’s contributions despite intense negotiations by the Biden administration. Issa tweeted, @realDonaldTrump deserves credit for peace in the Middle East. Biden deserve none.”
However the international media hails Biden, along with Macron, for achieving the daunting task of a cease fire in Lebanon and aspiring for a broader peace.
Reuters, the French news service, calls the ceasefire agreement “a rare diplomatic feat in a region racked by conflict.”
Similarly, the British Broadcasting Corporation, BBC, makes clear, “The US, Israel's key backer, had led the charge with France in negotiating the deal in Lebanon.”
According to Reuters, Hezbollah strikes in Israel have killed 45 civilians and 73 Israeli soldiers, while Israel strikes in Lebanon have killed 3,961 people and injured 16,520 more. According to Israel, however, all but a handful of those kills were Hezbollah militants, not civilians.
As for the Gaza conflict, President Biden made clear that while he blames Hamas for initiating the war by slaughtering over 1,300 Israeli civilians on Oct. 7,2023, the people of Gaza have “been through hell” and deserve an end to the fighting and displacement. Over 40,000 Gazans have been killed as a result of Israel’s relentless military campaign to destroy Hamas.
Biden faults Hamas for refusing to “negotiate a good faith ceasefire and a hostage deal.” He said Hamas now has a choice to make, and that the “only way out is to release the hostages including American citizens” in order to “bring an end to the fighting which will make possible a surge of humanitarian relief.”
Next up, Biden revealed that in the coming days, the U.S. will be pushing along with allies in Turkey, Egypt and Qatar to attain a cease fire in Gaza. Any such agreement would have to include plans for a future Palestinian state as well as assurances that it cannot threaten Israel or harbor terrorist groups backed by Iran.
President-elect Donald Trump takes office on January 20, and has pledged to be a staunch supporter of Israel and a hard-liner against terorrism, though domestically he has drawn criticism for praising anti-Semitic leaders, such as saying of Swastika-bearing marchers in Charlston, "There are good people on both sides."
The U.S. is also prepared in the waning days of the Biden administration to conclude historic deals with Saudi Arabia including a security pact and economic assurances, along with what Biden described as “a credible pathway for establishing a Palestinian state and the full normalization of relations between Saudi Arabia and Israel."
President Biden pledged, "In my remaining time in office, I will work tirelessly to advance this vision for an integrated, secure and prosperous region—all of which strengthens America’s national security.”