A ceasefire of ten days between Lebanon and Israel went into effect on the morning of Friday, April 17th, after being announced by the President of the United States, Donald Trump. This ceasefire comes after a month and a half of conflict between Israel and Hezbollah. Just hours after it came into effect, the Lebanese army mentioned “a number of violations of the agreement, several acts of Israeli aggression have been documented, not to mention the sporadic bombings that have hit several villages,” as reported by France 24. In response to the ceasefire violation by the occupying army, Hezbollah announced having “bombed a gathering of Israeli soldiers near the town of Khiam” in southern Lebanon.
Donald Trump announced his desire to organize a meeting at the White House between the President of Lebanon, Joseph Aoun, and the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu. Lebanon was dragged into the war in the Middle East in early March when Hezbollah targeted Israel to support Iran against the Israeli-American offensive. Despite a truce between Israel, the United States, and Iran on April 8th, the Israeli state continued its strikes against Lebanon, targeting Hezbollah, an Islamist movement funded and armed by Iran. According to authorities, over 2,000 people have been killed in Lebanon due to Israeli strikes, and around a million people have been displaced, representing a fifth of the country’s population.
A ceasefire between Lebanon and Israel welcomed by France
The Secretary-General of the UN, Antonio Guterres, welcomed the ceasefire between Lebanon and Israel on Friday, April 17th. He urged “all actors” to fully respect it and expressed hope that “this ceasefire will pave the way for negotiations,” as reported by franceinfo. The Minister of the Armed Forces, Catherine Vautrin, stressed the importance of “doing everything to ensure the ceasefire is respected.” She added, “It is essential that we succeed, not only in respecting this ceasefire, but also in the discussions currently taking place with Iran, the United States, and Israel, Lebanon is included in the discussions.” According to her, it is necessary “to obtain a peace agreement that concerns the entire region.”
In a statement released on April 17th, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs indicated that the temporary ceasefire between Lebanon and Israel was “a necessary and welcome first step to provide relief to the populations.” Emmanuel Macron called on Hezbollah to “renounce weapons” and asked Israel to “respect Lebanese sovereignty” and “end the war.” Additionally, the President expressed his concern that the ceasefire between Lebanon and Israel “could already be undermined by the continuation of military operations.”
