United States Announces Israel-Lebanon Ceasefire Deal Conditional on Hezbollah Ceasing Attacks and Withdrawing from Southern Zone

Israel and Lebanon have agreed to the implementation of a ceasefire, the United States State Department announced in a statement on Wednesday. The agreement is "contingent on a complete cessation" of attacks from the Iran-backed armed group Hezbollah, among other conditions. The development follows Israeli strikes that killed at least nine people in southern Lebanon on Wednesday and Hezbollah rocket fire into northern Israel, testing a shaky truce initially agreed in April.

Ceasefire Terms and Conditions

"All countries reaffirmed that the future of the relationship between Israel and Lebanon must be decided by the two sovereign governments. They rejected any attempt, by any state or non-state actor, to hold Lebanon's future hostage," the State Department statement said. The agreement is also contingent on the "evacuation of all [Hezbollah] operatives" from an area Israel controls in southern Lebanon from the Litani river to the border. The statement said the United States would help guide the creation of "pilot zones in which the Lebanese Armed Forces will take exclusive control of the territory to the exclusion of all non-state actors."

Background of the Partial Truce

The announcement follows a partial ceasefire agreed on Monday, which Lebanon said would see Israel refrain from bombing Beirut, in exchange for Hezbollah not attacking Israel. The two countries will meet again on 22 June to hold further talks "with a view toward reaching a comprehensive agreement." Hezbollah has not yet commented publicly on the announcement. United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters before the announcement that he hoped they would produce "an action plan on a track for security in [Lebanon], independent from Hezbollah."

Recent Violations and Casualties

The partial ceasefire was tested by both Israeli and Hezbollah fire this week. Lebanon's health ministry said those killed by Israel on Wednesday included two paramedics whose ambulance was hit in a strike in the southern Chehour area. A car was also struck just south of the capital Beirut. Meanwhile, Israel's military said it had intercepted a drone and two projectiles that crossed the border. Hezbollah said it targeted a gathering of Israeli troops. Before the announcement on Wednesday evening, Israel's leaders had warned that the country's military would resume strikes on the Hezbollah stronghold in Beirut's southern suburbs, known as Dahieh, if the group launched cross-border attacks on northern Israeli communities.

Lebanese Government and Hezbollah Positions

According to the Lebanese government, the partial ceasefire agreed on Monday stated that "Israel will not launch a broad offensive on Beirut in exchange for Hezbollah refraining from launching attacks against Israel." The government said Hezbollah had confirmed its acceptance, but a member of the group's political council, Mahmoud Qamati, told the British Broadcasting Corporation on Tuesday: "There was no ceasefire agreement, just the protection of Dahieh." Qamati also insisted that Hezbollah would not abide by any commitments made at the Lebanese-Israeli talks in Washington. "We think these negotiations do not concern us, nor do we recognise their findings or decisions, because we have rejected them on principle," he said.

Broader Conflict Context

Lebanon was drawn into the war between the United States, Israel and Iran on 2 March, when Hezbollah launched rockets into Israel in retaliation for an Israeli strike that killed Iran's supreme leader. Israel responded with an air campaign across Lebanon and a ground invasion in the south. Hezbollah is a Shia Muslim political and military group that operates in Lebanon and which has been involved in a series of violent conflicts with Israel. The group is considered a terrorist organisation by Israel and many other nations, including the United Kingdom and the United States. A United States-brokered ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon on 16 April failed to stop the fighting, and last week Prime Minister Ben.