Israel ordered the evacuation of parts of Beirut four hours before the ceasefire deadline, having struck about an hour earlier. A few hours before the cessation of hostilities, Hezbollah also launched drones into Israel.
Minutes after the cease-fire began, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) warned residents of southern Lebanon “not to head towards the villages that the IDF has ordered to evacuate or IDF forces in the area.”
Arabic-language IDF spokesman Avichai Adrei said on X that the IDF “will let you know when it’s safe to go home.”
However, shortly after the ceasefire began, reporters from the Reuters news agency spotted dozens of cars heading south, some of them packed with personal belongings.
The fighting continued for almost a year when Israel stepped up its bombing and launched a limited ground offensive against Hezbollah in late September.
According to local authorities, the war has become the deadliest in Lebanon in decades, with more than 3,823 people killed.
Under a deal announced Tuesday brokered by the U.S., Israel will gradually withdraw its troops from southern Lebanon over the course of 60 days.
In the same period, Hezbollah fighters and weapons will be withdrawn from the area south of the Litani River, the border established at the end of the last war between Israel and Hezbollah in 2006. They will be replaced by Lebanese government forces.
“This statement will create the conditions for the restoration of lasting calm and allow residents of both countries to return safely to their homes,” said a joint statement by the US and France, which will join the existing mechanism tasked with implementing the UN resolution earlier. set at the end of the 2006 war.
Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati welcomed the ceasefire agreement, calling it a “fundamental step towards restoring calm and stability” in the country and allowing citizens to return home.
But he also demanded that Israel “fully comply” with the deal, leave the sites it currently occupies and abide by the UN resolution.
