Israel-Lebanon ceasefire latest: Thousands defy Israeli warnings and return home as Hezbollah truce holds

US President Joe Biden said on Tuesday his administration was pushing for an elusive ceasefire in Gaza and that it is possible that Saudi Arabia and Israel could normalize relations.

The US “will make another push, with Turkey, Egypt, Qatar, Israel and others, to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza,” he said.

Biden also wants the hostages released and to end the war without Hamas in power. Biden made the comments as he announced an Israel-Lebanon ceasefire at the White House.

He added the US “remained prepared to conclude a set of historic deals with Saudi Arabia, to include a security pact and economic assurances, together with a credible pathway for establishing a Palestinian state and the full normalisation of relations between Saudi Arabia and Israel.”

A ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon’s Hezbollah will take effect on Wednesday after both sides accepted an agreement brokered by the United States and France, US President Joe Biden said on Tuesday.

The accord, clearing the way for an end to a conflict that has killed thousands of people since it was ignited by the Gaza war last year, was designed to be a permanent cessation of hostilities, Biden said in remarks at the White House.

Fighting across the Israel-Lebanon border will end at 4am local time (2am GMT), Biden said.

“This is designed to be a permanent cessation of hostilities,” he said. “What is left of Hezbollah and other terrorist organisations will not be allowed to threaten the security of Israel again.

Israel will gradually withdraw its forces over a period of 60 days as Lebanon’s army takes control of territory near its border with Israel to ensure that Hezbollah does not rebuild its infrastructure there, Biden said.

“Civilians on both sides will soon be able to safely return to their communities,” he said.

Lebanese Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib earlier said the Lebanese army would be ready to have at least 5,000 troops deployed in southern Lebanon as Israeli troops withdraw.

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s security cabinet has approved a ceasefire deal with the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, clearing the way for the truce to take effect.

The late-night vote came shortly before President Joe Biden was expected to announce details of the deal in Washington. Biden called the ceasefire in Lebanon “good news,” but it’s not clear how the truce will affect the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.

In the hours before Israel agreed to the ceasefire, residents of Beirut endured the most intense wave of Israeli strikes on the capital and its southern suburbs since the start of the 13-month war.

Israel was apparently signaling it intended to pummel the country before any ceasefire takes hold. Hezbollah also fired rockets into Israel, triggering air raid sirens across the country’s north.

Israel’s far-right security minister has rejected the US ceasefire plan backed by Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday evening.

Itamar Ben-Gvir branded the ceasefire plan a “historical mistake” and said Israel needed a security belt north of the border.

‘This is not a ceasefire. It’s a return to the concept of silence for silence, and we’ve already seen where it leads,” he said.

“In order to leave Lebanon, we must have our own security belt. We have already seen it, that we must not trust anyone but ourselves.

“Otherwise, the missiles will be launched at Manara, Avivim, Kiryat Shmona, the entire north and the entire State of Israel, and finally we will have to return to Lebanon again. This is a historical mistake!”

An Israeli air strike killed at least 13 Palestinians at a school sheltering displaced families in Gaza City, medics said on Tuesday.

They said that dozens of people were also wounded in the Israeli strike that hit the Al-Hurreya School in the Zeitoun neighborhood, one of the oldest suburbs of Gaza City.

Later on Tuesday, an Israeli air strike on a house also in Zeitoun suburb killed seven people and wounded others, medics said. Another strike killed at least one man in the southern city of Rafah, raising the number of Palestinians killed by Israel on Tuesday to 21.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday he was ready to implement a ceasefire deal with Lebanon and would “respond forcefully to any violation” by Hezbollah.

In a television address, Netanyahu said he would put the ceasefire accord to his full cabinet later in the evening. Israeli TV reported that the more restricted security cabinet had earlier approved the deal.

“We will enforce the agreement and respond forcefully to any violation. Together, we will continue until victory,” he said.

“In full coordination with the United States, we retain complete military freedom of action. Should Hezbollah violate the agreement or attempt to rearm, we will strike decisively.”

He added that there were three reasons to pursue a ceasefire -- to focus on Iran, replenish depleted arms supplies and give the army a rest, and finally to isolate Hamas, the militant group that triggered war in the region when it launched an attack on Israel from Gaza last year.

He said Hezbollah, which is backed by Iran and allied to Hamas, was considerably weaker than it had been at the start of the conflict.

“We have set it back decades, eliminated ... its top leaders, destroyed most of its rockets and missiles, neutralised thousands of fighters, and obliterated years of terror infrastructure near our border,” he said.

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has backed a US plan for a ceasefire with Hezbollah in a significant breakthrough to resolving the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.

Mr Netanyahu said he would present the plan - widely expected to include a 60-day ceasefire - to his full cabinet for approval tonight.

Addressing Israel, he said: “Hezbollah is no longer the same it has gone back dozens of years - we have killed Nasrallah, we have killed all senior commanders in the organisation we have destroyed many missiles and rockets.

We also destroyed the infrastructure of terror that has been built for many years near our borders. The ground is trembling in Lebanon

“That is why tonight I will bring to the cabinet approval an outline for a ceasefire in Lebanon - the duration of the ceasefire will depend of what is happening.”