Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire begins: Here’s what to know, and what it means for Gaza

A ceasefire deal that went into effect on Wednesday between Israel and Lebanon’s Hezbollah militant group could end more than a year of cross-border fighting. 

The deal was brokered by the U.S. and France and approved by Israel late on Tuesday. It calls for an initial two-month halt to fighting and requires Hezbollah to end its armed presence in southern Lebanon, while Israeli troops are to return to their side of the border. 

An intense bombing campaign by Israel has left more than 3,700 people dead, many of them civilians, according to Lebanese officials. Over 130 people have been killed on the Israeli side.

While it could significantly calm the tensions that have inflamed the region, there is still a much deadlier war raging in Gaza since the Hamas attack on southern Israel in October 2023 that killed 1,200 people.

Hezbollah began firing rockets into Israel the following day in support of Hamas. The militant group previously said it would keep fighting until there was a stop to the fighting in Gaza. With the new cease-fire, it has backed away from that pledge – in effect leaving Hamas isolated and fighting a war alone.

Here’s what to know about the tentative ceasefire agreement and its potential implications:

Terms of Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire deal

The agreement reportedly calls for a 60-day halt in fighting that would see Israeli troops retreat to their side of the border while requiring Hezbollah to end its armed presence in a broad swath of southern Lebanon. 

President Joe Biden said Tuesday that the deal would effect at 4 a.m. local time on Wednesday (9 p.m. EST Tuesday).

Under the deal, thousands of Lebanese troops and U.N. peacekeepers are to deploy to the region south of the Litani River. An international panel led by the U.S. would monitor compliance by all sides. 

Biden said the deal "was designed to be a permanent cessation of hostilities."

Israel has demanded the right to act should Hezbollah violate its obligations, but Lebanese officials rejected writing that into the proposal. 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Tuesday that the military would strike Hezbollah if the U.N. peacekeeping force, known as UNIFIL, does not enforce the deal.

Hezbollah indicated it would give the ceasefire pact a chance, but one of the group's leaders said the group's support for the deal hinged on clarity that Israel would not renew its attacks.

"After reviewing the agreement signed by the enemy government, we will see if there is a match between what we stated and what was agreed upon by the Lebanese officials," Mahmoud Qamati, deputy chair of Hezbollah’s political council, told the Qatari satellite news network Al Jazeera.

"We want an end to the aggression, of course, but not at the expense of the sovereignty of the state" of Lebanon, he added.

Where the fighting has left both Israel, Hezbollah

After months of cross-border bombings, Israel can claim major victories – including the killing of Hezbollah’s top leader, Hassan Nasrallah, most of his senior commanders and the destruction of extensive militant infrastructure.

A complex attack in September involving the explosion of hundreds of walkie-talkies and pagers used by Hezbollah was widely attributed to Israel, signaling a remarkable penetration of the militant group.

The damage inflicted on Hezbollah has hit not only in its ranks, but the reputation it built by fighting Israel to a stalemate in the 2006 war. Still, its fighters managed to put up heavy resistance on the ground, slowing Israel’s advance while continuing to fire scores of rockets, missiles and drones across the border each day.

The ceasefire offers relief to both sides, giving Israel’s overstretched army a break and allowing Hezbollah leaders to tout the group’s effectiveness in holding their ground despite Israel’s massive advantage in weaponry. But the group is likely to face a reckoning, with many Lebanese accusing it of tying their country’s fate to Gaza’s at the service of key ally Iran, inflicting great damage on a Lebanese economy that was already in grave condition.

What does it mean for Gaza?

Hezbollah had insisted that it would only stop its attacks on Israel when it agreed to stop fighting in Gaza. Some in the region are likely to view a deal between the Lebanon-based group and Israel as a capitulation.

In Gaza, the war has killed more than 44,000 Palestinians, according to officials. Israel’s attacks have inflicted a heavy toll on Hamas, including the killing of the group’s top leaders. 

But Hamas fighters continue to hold scores of Israeli hostages, giving the militant group a bargaining chip if indirect ceasefire negotiations resume.

Hamas is likely to continue to demand a lasting truce and a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza in any such deal, while Netanyahu on Tuesday reiterated his pledge to continue the war until Hamas is destroyed and all hostages are freed.

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, whose forces were ousted from Gaza by Hamas in 2007 and who hopes to one day rule over the territory again as part of an independent Palestinian state, offered a pointed reminder Tuesday of the intractability of the war, demanding urgent international intervention.

"The only way to halt the dangerous escalation we are witnessing in the region, and maintain regional and international stability, security and peace, is to resolve the question of Palestine," he said in a speech to the U.N. read by his ambassador.