THE NEW YORK TIMES: Everything you need to know about Israel-Lebanon ceasefire

The US State Department will host a second round of ambassador-level talks between Israel and Lebanon on Thursday, the department said, as it tries to broker a deal that would remove a major stumbling block in the ongoing peace talks between the United States and Iran.

A first round of talks last week helped produce a 10-day ceasefire agreement between Israel and Lebanon that went into effect Friday. Hezbollah, the Iran-backed militant group Israel has been targeting in Lebanon, did not directly address whether it would accept the truce, though it has shown little indication it would violate it.

The ceasefire deal also has created a political headache for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

More than 2100 people were killed in Lebanon since early March, Lebanese authorities said. Thousands of displaced families hoped the ceasefire would allow them to return to their homes, though some who have begun that journey since the ceasefire began have encountered widespread destruction, demolished villages and an Israeli military intent on carving out a 10km buffer zone inside southern Lebanon.

What led to the agreement?

President Donald Trump announced the ceasefire on social media late Thursday, following a diplomatic push by the United States. “No more killing. Must finally have PEACE!” he said in a post.

It followed rare, direct talks between Lebanese and Israeli officials in Washington this week.

Lebanon has been a battleground for the fight between Israel and Hezbollah for more than four decades and the two nations have no formal diplomatic relations.

Hezbollah, which the United States has long designated as a terrorist organisation, was not at the meeting, held on the premises of the State Department.

What is in the agreement?

The State Department, outlining the truce in a memo Thursday, said that Israel and Lebanon had agreed that only Lebanon’s official security forces would be authorised to bear arms in southern Lebanon, which borders Israel. It said Israel would retain its right to act in self-defence, but would not carry out “offensive operations” against Lebanese targets by land, air or sea.

The memo said that the Lebanese government, with international support, would be expected to take “meaningful steps” to prevent Hezbollah from carrying out attacks against Israeli targets. The country’s military, however, has long been too weak to control Hezbollah, which they have accused of operating at Iran’s behest.

Will Hezbollah and Iran accept the ceasefire?

Hezbollah acknowledged the announcement in an official statement, but did not say whether it would accept the agreement or its terms.

In a statement Friday, the group warned that “the hands of these fighters will remain on the trigger.”

Earlier, Hezbollah’s media office said that any ceasefire “must be comprehensive across all Lebanese territory,” and that it would not allow Israeli forces “any freedom of movement.” Its response to a truce, the group said, would depend “on how developments unfold.”

Hezbollah has in the past abided by some deals negotiated by the Lebanese government. Analysts say Hezbollah has little incentive to resume attacks, given the severe humanitarian toll the war has taken on its support base.

Iran welcomed the deal. The spokesperson of Iran’s Foreign Ministry, Esmail Baghaei, described it as part of the Iran-U. S. ceasefire agreement brokered by Pakistan last week.

There was disagreement over whether Lebanon was included in the earlier deal: To U.S. and Israeli officials, the Lebanon agreement is separate from that April 7 deal, which calls for a two-week stop to hostilities between Iran, Israel and the United States.

What does the deal mean for Israel?

Netanyahu faced criticism from within Israel as soon as he confirmed the ceasefire. The deal appeared to reflect Washington’s desire to wind down the fighting in Lebanon, which has threatened to undermine the fragile ceasefire with Iran. But it leaves Netanyahu without having achieved his own goal of gutting Hezbollah, a point his critics seized upon.

Netanyahu said Israeli troops would remain inside Lebanon, as part of what he called an “expanded security zone” from Lebanon’s Mediterranean coast to its border with Syria, south of the Litani River.

Is the truce holding?

The Lebanese army has said it has recorded multiple Israeli violations after the ceasefire went into effect. And Israel has said it will continue carrying out what it describes as defensive strikes and demolishing buildings in the zone it has invaded.

Tensions remained high Monday, four days into the ceasefire. The Israeli military said it had struck a loaded rocket launcher outside the zone it occupies in southern Lebanon, calling it an imminent threat. Hezbollah said an Israeli convoy Sunday triggered explosives that its militants had previously planted in the region.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

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