A ceasefire deal between Israel and Hezbollah has begun, but Lebanese citizens have been warned to stay away from their evacuated homes in the south of the country for now.
The pause in fighting came into effect at 4am local time (2am GMT) on Wednesday, marking a significant step in diplomatic efforts in the Middle East.
As the ceasefire went into effect, much of Lebanon was quiet for the first time since late September, following weeks of intense overnight strikes in southern and eastern Lebanon.
But despite the move towards peace, Israel’s military said its evacuation orders – which have displaced 1.2 million Lebanese citizens – are still in place.
“You are prohibited from heading towards the villages that the IDF has ordered to be evacuated or towards IDF forces in the area,” the military’s spokesman Col. Avichay Adraee wrote on X.
“For your safety and the safety of your family members, refrain from moving to the area.”
But by dawn, thousands of people were defying the warning and made their way into southern Lebanon.
On the highway linking Beirut with south Lebanon, thousands of people drove south with their belongings and mattresses tied on top of their cars.
Traffic was gridlocked at the northern entrance of the port city of Sidon.
It comes after Israel issued a record number of evacuation warnings on Tuesday, as the country launched its most intensive wave of strikes in Lebanon’s capital.
At least 42 people were killed by Israeli strikes across Lebanon on Tuesday, according to local authorities. Hezbollah also fired rockets into Israel on Tuesday, triggering air raid sirens in the country’s north.
After 13 months of cross-fire between the two countries, the Israeli security cabinet voted to approve a ceasefire deal in Lebanon on Tuesday.
The truce on Wednesday will see a 60-day halt in fighting to allow Hezbollah militants to head north, US President Joe Biden said.
Israel’s military forces would move south and eventually withdraw from Lebanon entirely.
South Lebanon will become a border buffer zone with UN peacekeepers and Lebanese troops deployed there, while Hezbollah will have to remain North of the Litani River.
Israel says it will be allowed to retain its right to strike if Hezbollah breaches the terms of the deal.
A joint statement from Biden and French President Emmanuel Macron said the announcement would “cease the fighting in Lebanon, and secure Israel from the threat of Hezbollah and other terrorist organisations operating from Lebanon”.
They added that it would create the conditions to “restore lasting calm” and “allow residents in both countries to return safely to their homes on both sides of the Blue Line”.
“We remain determined to prevent this conflict from becoming another cycle of violence,” the joint statement added.
In a televised address, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Hezbollah was “no longer the same” after his country’s offensive.
Lebanon’s prime minister, Najib Mikati, said he “welcomed” the ceasefire and thanked the US and France for helping to broker the deal.
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer described the ceasefire as “long overdue” and said it would provide some relief to the civilians “who have suffered unimaginable consequences during the last few months of devastating conflict and bloodshed”.
Starmer said progress must now be made towards a ceasefire deal in Gaza.
In a statement, he said: “The UK and its allies will continue to be at the forefront of efforts to break the ongoing cycle of violence in pursuit of a long-term, sustainable peace in the Middle East.
“We must see immediate progress towards a ceasefire deal in Gaza, the release of all hostages and the removal of restrictions on desperately needed humanitarian aid.”
Israel and Lebanon’s militant group Hezbollah have been trading cross-border fire almost daily since the day after Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023.
Two months ago, Israel escalated its campaign on Lebanon, issuing widespread bombardment and then a subsequent ground invasion.
At least 3,500 people have been killed in Lebanon, many of them civilians, according to the country’s health ministry.
More than 70 have been killed in Israel, over 40 of them civilians. In addition, more than 50 Israeli soldiers have been killed in the ground offensive.
Hundreds of thousands of people on both sides of the border have been evacuated from their homes and uprooted their daily lives in the search for safety.
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