The ceasefire in Lebanon between Hezbollah and Israel came into force at 03:00 yesterday. The French President, Emmanuel Macron, among the countries involved in the dialogue between Lebanon and Israel, reported: “I welcome the ceasefire agreement agreed today between Israel and Lebanon”.
Since the beginning of the war, on 8 October 2023, there have been 5,185 attacks against Israel from Lebanon. At the same time as Israel’s transition to an offensive policy in the northern theater, the number of Hezbollah attacks began to increase in mid-September 2024. The busiest month was October 2024, when 1,158 attacks were carried out.
US President Joe Biden’s special adviser and envoy in charge of negotiating a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Lebanon, Amos Hochstein, said that the truce between the two sides is permanent and will end the hostilities.
US President Joe Biden said in his announcement on November 26: “More than 70,000 Israelis have been forced to live as refugees in their own country, as their homes and businesses have been bombed. More than 300,000 Lebanese have been forced to live as refugees in their own country. The war imposed by Hezbollah has been the deadliest conflict between Israel and Hezbollah in decades.” “I am pleased to announce that Israel and Hezbollah have agreed to a ceasefire.” “We intend to formalize and finalize the establishment of relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia in the future, both want it.”
And he concluded by saying: “In the coming days, the United States will make a new effort with Turkey, Qatar and others for a ceasefire in Gaza.” Previously, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken confirmed his intentions to reach a truce in Gaza as soon as possible: “After the G7 summit in Italy, Blinken believes that a solution in Lebanon will lead to the end of hostilities in Gaza.”
Sources of the daily newspaper Al-Arabi Al-Jadeed report from Qatar that a delegation of Egyptian security forces is expected to arrive in Israel in the next few hours to meet with senior Israeli officials regarding the issue of the hostages in Gaza.
The families of Israeli prisoners still held by the Resistance organized a sit-in in front of Netanyahu’s office at the Knesset to push for the conclusion of an exchange agreement.
Israel now has 60 days to withdraw its remaining forces in southern Lebanon; in fact, since the morning of November 27, Israeli troops have left the territory and civilians have begun to arrive en masse. The United States will not send troops to Lebanon, while 5,000 Lebanese soldiers are ready to manage southern Lebanon and the disarmament of the militias. The Ceasefire will be monitored by UNIFIL, which has the task of drafting the violations of the agreement reported by both parties.
For Isaac Herzog, President of Israel, the failure to return the hostages means Israel’s defeat. In an interview on the i24 channel, the former adviser to the Israeli Prime Minister admits defeat in the face of Hezbollah: “We agreed with Lebanon on a useless agreement because we were not able to return the settlers to their homes in the north while the Lebanese returned to the south; what we did is irrational because it was supposed to establish a military and demilitarized buffer zone in southern Lebanon, which was not mentioned in the agreement!”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu clarified the terms of the agreement: “The war will not end until we achieve all the objectives and bring the people of the north home safe and sound. We have achieved incredible success in a war on seven fronts. I am determined to do everything to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons. Eliminating this threat is the most important task.”
“This is not the same Hezbollah, we have brought it back decades. We destroyed all the top officials of the organization, thousands of terrorists, we destroyed most of the missile capacity and infrastructure that it built near our border. Only three months ago it would have seemed like science fiction, but we did it.”
He also said: “Syrian President Assad must understand that he is playing with fire. At any given moment, I look at the big picture, not just one front. I am determined to provide the soldiers with every means, so I will present a ceasefire plan. If Hezbollah violates the agreement, we will attack.”
Netanyahu then lists three reasons for accepting the agreement: Focus on the Iranian threat “I will not go into the details about it” reported, delays in the supply of weapons from the United States: this delay will soon be eliminated. Isolate Hamas and isolate the theater of operations.
In the meantime, it is reported that in Syria HTS has declared war on Assad and has started an offensive on western Aleppo. At this moment Russian jets are attacking the positions of the rebels of HTS and allies. This new resumption of the conflict in Syria is useless to deny that it plays in favor of Israel. Among the objectives of HTS is to eliminate the Iranian and Shiite presence on Syrian territory.
Lebanese Prime Minister Mikati commenting on the agreement said: “This is an important step towards calm and stability in Lebanon and the return of displaced persons. We emphasize Lebanon’s commitment to implementing resolution 1701, strengthening the presence of the army in the south and cooperating with UNIFIL. “I ask that Israel fully implement the ceasefire, the withdrawal of troops and compliance with resolution 1701”. Hezbollah will remain active, armed and present south of the Litani River throughout southern Lebanon.
On the morning of November 27, Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri called on all Lebanese to return home, including those who fled to countries such as Syria. Images from southern Lebanon showed Hezbollah’s “Fadi” heavy rocket launchers, following the ceasefire, moving freely on the roads. Meanwhile, the IDF withdrew from almost all of its positions in the south, less than 24 hours after the ceasefire went into effect.
In Iran, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf supported the ceasefire between Lebanon and Israel but reported that: “The implementation of Operation True Promise 3 (against Israel) is inevitable.”
And now a look at the situation of military operations between Israel and the Axis of Resistance.
The Lebanese channel al-Mayadeen says that all Syrian-Lebanese border crossings are now out of service. On the night of November 26, the Israeli Air Force extensively bombed the Syrian-Lebanese border, destroying all remaining active border crossings between the two countries.
Lebanese Army soldiers closed all entrances to the town of Khyam on November 27, fearing for the safety of citizens due to the presence of Israeli forces. Residents of the Lebanese village have, however, entered Khiyam, where a heavy battle broke out a day ago, coming within sight of the Merkava tanks that are still present in the town. Everyone is disobeying Israeli orders. Israel has violated the ceasefire by shelling Khiyam with artillery and machine gun fire has been heard. The violation will be reported to UNIFIL. Israel has also registered a violation of the agreement: Israeli media is now reporting a ceasefire violation against retreating Israeli troops in Khiyam.
In Ayta Al Shaab, people tore down the Israeli flag from the water tower, one of the few remaining buildings in the town. Lebanese civilians have even reached the border wall, including villages such as Kfar Kila and Aytaroun.
Massive traffic jams are being reported across Lebanon as Lebanese refugees return to their homes, and despite warnings from the IDF, locals have returned to southern Lebanon in their thousands. Many have already reached the cities and towns of Tyre and Nabatieh governorate, and some families have already entered Bint Jbeil, where the Israeli army has not been able to gain a foothold. Families have also returned to Zibqeen and several other towns near the second line.
Most IDF positions in Lebanon are now paralyzed or abandoned. The IDF instead called for caution among settlers: “People cannot return to the North (Galilee) in the coming months.”
The IDF also reported: “The chain of command of the Hezbollah air unit (127) has been eliminated: on November 26 (Tuesday), before the ceasefire came into effect, the operations officer of the Hezbollah air unit, responsible for launching UAVs and cruise missiles toward Israel, was eliminated.” Israel Army Radio: “Since the morning, the ceasefire agreement has been violated 4 times in Kafr Kila, Mays al-Jabal, Khiam and Yaroun.”
The last major clash between Hezbollah and Israeli forces occurred at 5:00 p.m. on November 26 (Beirut time), when Hezbollah ambushed a group of Israeli forces retreating from ‘Ebl al-Saqi’ towards Khiyam. When the group reached the ambush point, it detonated two IEDs targeting a military bulldozer and an infantry unit. A ‘Merkava’ tank accompanying the group was also hit by a guided missile, destroying both the tank and the infantry unit bulldozer, with casualties among their crews and confirmed injuries among the infantry forces.
Meanwhile, still on the night of November 26, the Israeli Air Force bombed the branch of Al-Qard al-Hasan (Hezbollah’s financial institution) in Sidon. The Hezbollah bank in Beirut was also destroyed. On November 27, the Lebanese army began to transfer troops to Sidon. Residents of the Bekaa province in Lebanon also began to return home
Before the ceasefire came into effect, Hezbollah bombed Kiryat Shmona for the third time with heavy Burkan rockets all in 5 minutes. Impacts reported in Kiryat Shmona following a rocket launch by Hezbollah. Hezbollah revealed that a target hit on November 18 in Tel Aviv was the residence of the commander of the Israeli Air Force, General Tomar Bar, which was struck using a squadron of drones
Also at around 21:00 on November 26, a ballistic missile launched by Hezbollah toward Hadera and Caesarea. Intense interceptions over Hadera, northern Israel. The IDF says three projectiles, probably ballistic missiles, were intercepted. At 01:10 on November 27, a loud explosion heard in Afula, Israel. First reports of a Hezbollah drone hitting a military base (Shachar 7).
The IDF continues operational activity in Jabaliya and Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip. Following advance warnings by the IDF to the civilian population to move away from the combat zone in Jabaliya and Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip, IAF and IDF artillery struck dozens of Hamas weapons depots, military facilities and key infrastructure sites overnight (Wednesday). These targets were struck following intelligence gathered from interrogations of Hamas gunmen who were arrested in the area.
Additionally, the IAF struck and killed Morad Rajoub in Gaza City, one of two attackers involved in the attack that injured approximately ten civilians in the city of Be’er Sheva in May 2002. Rajoub was sentenced to 38 years in prison and was later released in the Gilad Shalit release agreement.
Al Quds denounces the destruction of the Al-Qassam Mosque in Nuseirat camp in the central Gaza Strip following Israeli bombardment. During the night, heavy artillery bombardment occurred east and west of the city of Rafah.
Antonio Albanese e Graziella Giangiulio
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