WASHINGTON: US President Joe Biden will launch a renewed drive Wednesday for a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal, now that Israel and Hezbollah have agreed to a truce in Lebanon, his national security adviser said.
The truce that began before dawn Wednesday in Lebanon means Hezbollah is no longer fighting in solidarity with Hamas in Gaza. That will increase pressure on the Palestinian group to agree to a ceasefire and hostage deal, US National Security Adviser Jake Suillivan told MSNBC.
Biden spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu right before the US- and French-brokered truce with Hezbollah was announced Tuesday and they agreed to try again for a Gaza agreement that has eluded negotiators for months, Sullivan said.
“President Biden intends to begin that work today by having his envoys engage with Turkey, Qatar, Egypt and other actors in the region,” Sullivan said.
“We believe that this is the beginning of an opportunity for a more stable Middle East in which Israel’s security is assured and US interests are secured,” he added.
The Israel-Hezbollah deal was a rare boost for Biden as he prepares to leave the White House and hand over to Donald Trump on January 20.
As he announced the agreement Tuesday, Biden said the United States, Turkey, Egypt, Qatar and Israel would make another push for a ceasefire in Gaza, where Israel is still at war with Hamas following the Palestinian group’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel.
The health ministry in Gaza said Wednesday that at least 44,282 people have been killed in more than 13 months of Israeli military bombardment.
The toll includes 33 deaths in the previous 24 hours, according to the ministry, which said 104,880 people have been wounded in the Gaza Strip since October 7, 2023.
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A ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah came into effect on Wednesday after both sides accepted an agreement.
At least 55 people were killed on Monday in Israeli attacks on Lebanon, bringing the death toll since October 2023 to 3,823, the Lebanese Health Ministry said on Tuesday.
A total of 160 others were wounded over the past 24 hours, raising the number of injuries to 15,859.
In the hours leading up to the ceasefire, Israeli airstrikes on the Lebanese capital Beirut and its southern suburbs, as well as the southern and eastern provinces of the country, had intensified, resulting in dozens of deaths and injuries.
Lebanon’s army, tasked with helping ensure the ceasefire holds, said in a statement on Wednesday it was preparing to deploy to the south of the country.
The military also asked that residents of border villages delay returning home until the Israeli military withdraws.
“Force must give way to dialogue and negotiation. This has now been achieved in Lebanon, and it must happen as soon as possible in the Gaza Strip,” French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot told franceinfo radio.
In Lebanon, many of the villages the people were likely returning to have been destroyed. But displaced families renting out alternative housing have been under financial pressure and hoped to avoid paying another month of rent, some of them told Reuters.
Some displaced people said they were still nervous about returning.
Israel will gradually withdraw its forces over 60 days as Lebanon’s army takes control of territory near its border with Israel to ensure that Hezbollah does not rebuild its infrastructure there after a costly conflict, Biden said.
Hezbollah has not formally commented on the ceasefire but senior official Hassan Fadlallah told Lebanon’s Al Jadeed TV that while it supported the extension of the Lebanese state’s authority, the group would emerge from the conflict stronger.
“Thousands will join the resistance … Disarming the resistance was an Israeli proposal that fell through,” said Fadlallah, who is also a member of Lebanon’s parliament.
Iran said it welcomed the ceasefire. In a statement, Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei welcomed the development, stressing his country’s “firm support for the Lebanese government, nation and resistance”.
