(AFP) – President Joe Biden on Tuesday welcomed as “good news” a US and French-brokered ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, saying he hoped it could be a springboard to peace in Gaza too. The deal will come into force at 4:00 am local time (0200 GMT) Wednesday, Biden said as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office announced his ministers had approved the deal.
“I have some good news to report from the Middle East,” Biden, who is due to leave office in less than two months, said in a speech in the Rose Garden of the White House. “I just spoke with the prime ministers of Israel and Lebanon and I’m pleased to announce that their governments have accepted the United States’ proposal to end the devastating conflict between Israel and Hezbollah.” Biden thanked French President Emmanuel Macron for his “partnership in reaching this moment.”
The deal is a rare boost for Biden as he prepares to leave the White House and hand over to President-elect Donald Trump on January 20. The Republican has appointed some key Israel hawks in his cabinet, and his transition team suggested to AFP that the ceasefire showed that Iran-backed proxies such as Hezbollah “clearly see the clock ticking” down on a new Trump presidency. “President Trump rightfully predicted that actors in the region would make moves toward peace because of his historic victory — and that’s exactly what we are seeing take place,” the Trump transition team said in a statement to AFP.
Biden said the deal was designed to be a “permanent cessation of hostilities” between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah, after more than a year of cross-border fire and two months of all-out war in Lebanon. Under the agreement, the Lebanese army would take control of the border area on their side and “what is left of Hezbollah and other terrorist organizations will not be allowed… to threaten the security of Israel again,” he said. The United States and France would ensure the deal was fully implemented but there would be no US troops on the ground, he added.
Biden said the deal “heralds a new start for Lebanon” but could also lead to wider peace in the tense Middle East. The United States, Turkey, Egypt, Qatar, and Israel would “make another push” in coming days for a ceasefire in Gaza, where Israel is still at war with Hamas following the Palestinian group’s deadly October 7, 2023, attack on Israel. Washington would also push for a long-hoped-for deal to normalize relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia, he said.
US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin hailed the ceasefire announced by Biden as “good for Israel, good for Lebanon, and good for the security of the region.” “This diplomatic resolution will enable tens of thousands of civilians in both Lebanon and Israel to return safely to their homes on both sides of the border, and to put an end to the violence and destruction of this conflict,” Austin said in a statement.
© 2024 AFP
