Lebanon Ceasefire: Fighting Eases After US-Iran Deal, Displaced Urged Caution
Ceasefire Brings Temporary Calm Amid Ongoing Tensions
By Laila Bassam and Steven Scheer
BEIRUT/JERUSALEM, June 15 (Reuters) - Fighting in southern Lebanon abated on Monday after the announcement of a U.S.-Iran deal to end the wider conflict, but local authorities warned displaced people not to rush home and Israel said it would not withdraw its troops from the area.
Lebanon has suffered the deadliest spillover of the conflict between the U.S. and Iran, with nearly 3,800 people killed and some 1.2 million people uprooted by an Israeli offensive against the Iran-backed Hezbollah group, which opened fire on Israel in support of Tehran on March 2.
US-Iran Deal and Its Immediate Impact
Pakistan, a key mediator between Tehran and Washington, announced that a deal was struck early on Monday local time that called for "the immediate and permanent termination of military operations on all fronts, including in Lebanon".
The declaration brought relative calm to southern Lebanon, according to Lebanese and foreign security sources.
Hezbollah's Response to the Ceasefire
A Hezbollah official told Reuters the group had not carried out any operations since the deal was announced, adding that its position on the ceasefire was linked to Israel adhering to it.
The official, who declined to be named, added that Hezbollah rejects Israeli "freedom of movement" in Lebanon and said Iran delayed signing the deal with the U.S. to monitor Israel's adherence to the ceasefire in Lebanon.
Israel significantly reduced its attacks, the security sources said, though some artillery fire was reported in southern Lebanese towns and a drone was heard above Beirut and its southern suburbs.
Hezbollah has yet to issue any official comment on the deal.
Israel's Position and Displacement Concerns
Israeli Troops Remain in Southern Lebanon
ISRAEL SAYS TROOPS WILL STAY
In south Lebanon, municipal councils called on residents to hold off on returning home. Israel's air force has heavily bombed some towns there over the last three months, and others closer to the frontier are still occupied by Israeli troops.
Voices of the Displaced
Mona Mazeh, a displaced woman sheltering in Beirut's Hamra district, had no immediate plans to return to her village near the southern city of Tyre. "Frankly, we are hesitant; Israel cannot be trusted," she said.
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz, whose country is not a party to the U.S.-Iran deal, said Israel would not withdraw from security zones in southern Lebanon, Gaza and Syria, and that it would retaliate if Iran attacked Israel due to events in Lebanon.
Katz said the security zone in southern Lebanon would be cleared of local residents, and "all terrorist infrastructure, including houses in contact villages", a reference to Hezbollah.
The Israeli military has been razing villages in southern Lebanon for weeks, saying it is acting against Hezbollah militants embedded in civilian areas of the predominantly Shi'ite Muslim region. Hundreds of thousands of Lebanese Shi'ites are sheltering in other parts of the country.
Destruction and the Challenge of Rebuilding
In Nabatieh, a devastated city in the south, Mohammed Daqdouq said he had returned on Monday morning to check on his home. "We'll need a lifetime to rebuild — to rebuild it again and bring Nabatieh back to how it was," he said.
Lebanese Leadership and Regional Reactions
President Aoun's Statement
BERRI WELCOMES DEAL
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun issued a carefully worded statement on Monday in response to the U.S.-Iran deal, saying he was grateful to those who had worked towards de-escalation in Lebanon and appreciated the deal's recognition of the importance of his country's stability.
He did not mention Iran or Israel specifically. Aoun previously accused Tehran of using Lebanon as a bargaining chip in its negotiations with Washington.
Parliament Speaker Berri's Reaction
Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, a political ally of Hezbollah and head of the Shi'ite Muslim Amal Movement, said the agreement laid "the foundations for security and stability in the region, including Lebanon".
In a statement, Berri thanked Washington and Tehran for including a halt to Israeli attacks on Lebanon in the deal, and described that provision as binding.
Iran's Role in the Ceasefire
Iran, whose Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps established Hezbollah in 1982, had insisted that a Lebanon ceasefire be included as part of any broader deal with the United States.
(Reporting by Jihed Abidellaoui, Laila Bassam, Maya Gebeily and Tala Ramadan in Beirut; Writing by Tom Perry and Maya Gebeily; Editing by Gareth Jones and Ros Russell)
