A temporary ceasefire has been announced in Lebanon. With typical brutality the Israelis have spent the hours in the run up to the deal bombarding Lebanon in the North and the South.
Israeli prime minister Netanyahu has welcomed the deal saying it allows Israel to focus on Gaza and Iran.
If the temporary ceasefire holds it will be a welcome pause, at least in the Israeli assault on Lebanon and the terrible suffering that has entailed. Well over 3,000 have been killed and as many as 15,000 injured in indiscriminate bombing and ground incursions.
During the onslaught, Israeli leaders claimed that their aim was to wipe out Hezbollah and even at times that they would permanently occupy the south of the country. They have failed in both objectives. Their troops have had to leave the country, at least for now.
Partly this failure has been due to the resistance on the ground. Israeli troops in Lebanon have suffered heavy casualties. The crucial port of Haifa in the North of Israel has been crippled by rocket attacks from Lebanon. Tens of thousands of Israeli citizens have been withdrawn from the north of the country since Israel’s attacks began.
The ceasefire is however only for sixty days. It resolves nothing for the people of Gaza who are still under brutal attack and were told that Hezbollah would make no deal until there was a ceasefire there.
It is a return to the precarious pre-October 7 status quo in Lebanon with the proviso that Israeli troops have the right to re-enter Lebanon should there be any breaches in the agreement. Hezbollah forces will have to move away from the border to the north of the Litani river.
The ceasefire provides relief for the people of Lebanon and shows the limits of Israeli power, but the central question of ending Israel’s onslaught on the Palestinians remains.
