The Ceasefire That May or May Not Be

 

The UN Security Council resolution ended the Israel-Hezbollah war of 2006 and stipulates that the only armed groups in the area south of Lebanon’s Litani River should be the Lebanese army and UN peacekeeping forces (UN Interim Force in Lebanon – UNIFIL). The so-called Blue Line was set by the UN in 2000 after the end of Israel’s occupation of southern Lebanon and now serves as a de facto border between the two countries. Resolution 1701 also prohibits Israel from encroaching on Lebanese territory by land, sea or air.

United Nations Resolution 1701

A view of destruction caused by the Israeli army in the southern Lebanese village of Kafr Kela, following the ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, November 27, 2024. (David Cohen/Flash90)

Under this agreement Hezbollah was to disarm and turn their weapons over to the Lebanese military, as well as blend their members with that of the military, under Lebanese Army control. That never happened. UNIFIL was also ordered to ensure that no build-up of weaponry was to take place, to ensure that a cache of weapons that would be used again against Israel did not eventuate. That too failed, because it was never enforced, the result being that the Islamic Republic of Iran was able by stealth to continue arming its creature Hezbollah with more sophisticated missiles in huge numbers, stockpiled to be used at a time when a well-planned attack was to take place with Israel confronted on all sides.

 

Hezbollah had entered the fray the very day following the infamously savage attack on southern Israel by thousands of terrorists led by Hamas, October 8, 2023. The Hamas attack from Gaza on Israel's border kibbutzim took place on the 7th of October and it was still ongoing on the 8th when Hezbollah first began sending rockets into Israel to open a northern front in Israel, to join in the carnage and spell relief for Hamas. This, at a time when Israel had yet to invade Gaza, necessitating that the Israel Defense Forces deploy both in the country's south and the north.

The assaults from Hezbollah were at first desultory and haphazardly intermittent, with Israel firing back in similar vein. Until the attacks reached a momentum where it became necessary for Israel to order towns and communities in the north to evacuate and leave for the Israeli interior, leading to tens of thousands of Israelis displaced from their homes. 

 

Israel's response to the Hezbollah assaults saw Lebanese living in Hezbollah strongholds in southern Lebanon forced to leave as well. Israel's pounding by air of southern Lebanon, where Shiite villages comprised the area that held Hezbollah's headquarters and military barracks along with weapons stockpiles resulted in the Lebanese terror group's critical loss of commanders along with weapons depots.

 

Residents of northern Israeli communities who were evacuated from their homes due to the war protest against a ceasefire, in Tel Aviv, November 26, 2024. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)

 

Now, a 60-day ceasefire is in effect which Israel's security cabinet agreed to under pressure from U.S. President Joe Biden, mindful of a legacy project as he leaves office. Israel, pressed by the Biden White House to reach a ceasefire agreement with both Hamas and Hezbollah when its existential goal is to destroy both terrorist groups' capacity to ever again threaten, attack and violate the Jewish State's sovereignty and Jewish right to life, has been constrained time and again under threat of withholding U.S.-supplied arms and munitions to Israel in its struggle against its enemies' intention of annihilating Israel.

The Lebanese Armed Forces are to be deployed to the border region between Israel and Lebanon, while Hezbollah is to withdraw for a "transition period" which would see Israeli troops return to Israel. Hezbollah has agreed under the ceasefire to relocate its "heavy weapons" to north of the Litani River, 30 kilometres north of the border with Israel. No sooner was the ceasefire implemented, than did Hezbollah betray expectations, some of its operatives appearing in areas meant to be off-limits.

Israel's pledge was to deal immediately and harshly with any violations by Hezbollah should the Lebanese army fail to neutralize any conceivable threats that could arise. The stipulation under the agreement continues to hamstring Israel, since it must consult over any actions taken beforehand with Washington. Air Raid sirens have now gone silent, but they were constantly activated across the Galilee and Haifa areas to warn of thousands of incoming rocket and missile fire from Lebanon.

Hezbollah, briefly relieved of the presence of Israeli ground forces and the pounding of their strongholds has vowed to "remain active" once the conflict comes to a formal conclusion. Lebanese lawmaker Hassan Fadlallah, representing Hezbollah's March 8 Alliance, spoke of rebuilding the areas destroyed by Israeli airstrikes and presumably picking  up where they had left off. Two days prior to the ceasefire, over 240 projectiles had been fired by Hezbollah into Israel. 

Over 60,000 internally displaced residents of Israel's northern boundaries await return to their homes with the cessation, however temporary, of Hezbollah missiles during the ceasefire. At least 76 Israelis were killed, 31 IDF soldiers among them, along with six foreign nationals, and 700 people wounded during the airborne assaults from Lebanon. For the time being the IDF has withdrawn its ground forces that had conducted "limited, localized and targeted raids" into Lebanon.

Israeli authorities wait and remain on alert. Although Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu adhered to Joe Biden's pressure, he has made no secret of his intention to continue battling Hezbollah until its vicious menace recedes completely. As for the northern Shiite Lebanese and their Hezbollah heroes, they are all celebrating their heroic 'victory' over Israel, having 'forced the enemy' to declare a ceasefire, a situation that they interpret as having gained the upper hand over Israel. 

Israeli soldiers seen on the Israeli side of the border with Lebanon, following the ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, November 27, 2024. (David Cohen/Flash90)