A cease-fire agreement to end the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon went into effect on Wednesday morning, bringing a fragile peace to an area that has seen more than a year of fighting.
Many questions remain about implementing the deal over the next 60 days, a critical period during which Israel and Hezbollah are expected to withdraw from southern Lebanon — and hold their fire.
Here’s what we know about how things are going so far.
Troop movements
The Lebanese Army, which is not a party to the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, is expected to enforce the peace under the terms of the deal. It started to send military convoys into southern Lebanon on Wednesday, posting images of the troop movements on social media and saying the army had “begun to strengthen its deployment” and “extend state authority” in the area.
The Israeli military is still in Lebanon and is expected to withdraw in phases over the next two months. That withdrawal will be coordinated with the Lebanese Army, according to the cease-fire deal. The two militaries, along with an international oversight committee chaired by the United States and including France, are expected to come up with “a specific and detailed plan.”
Hezbollah is expected to withdraw from southern Lebanon, but when is not clear. Israel has killed or injured many members of the armed group’s leadership and rank-and-file and has destroyed its weapons stockpiles and factories.
Heading home in Lebanon
More than a million people in Lebanon were displaced by the fighting, mostly in the last few months as the conflict intensified and Israel invaded. As the cease-fire took effect on Wednesday, thousands immediately began returning to areas ruined by Israeli strikes, packing highways with cars loaded with people and belongings. But the movements of returning residents were still constricted. The Lebanese Army called on civilians returning to towns and villages along the border to avoid areas where the Israeli military was still in position.
Bachir Khodr, the governor of Baalbek-Hermel, a Lebanese province that has been hard hit by the war, posted on social media on Wednesday that about half of the displaced people in his region had returned. In separate posts, he said that he woke up Wednesday to the sound of gunfire and feared an Israeli raid, only to discover the sounds were shots of celebration.
On Wednesday afternoon, the office of Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said in a statement that he and his defense minister, Israel Katz, had instructed the Israeli military to bar people from returning to communities in Lebanon near the Israeli border, in line with terms of the first phase of the cease-fire.
With little lead time, the Israeli military on Wednesday afternoon declared a curfew in southern Lebanon from 5 p.m. local time until 7 a.m. on Thursday, noting on social media that its troops were still deployed there and would deal “firmly” with violations. People north of the Litani River — which runs roughly parallel to the border with Israel and up to 15 miles away from it — were prohibited from moving southward, and those already in the southern zone were told to remain in place.
Heading home in Israel
In northern Israel, where about 60,000 residents were displaced by the conflict over the last year, some residents began trickling back on Wednesday for short visits to their homes, with the Israeli military’s permission. But most are staying away until it’s clear that the cease-fire is hold, and the Israeli government is not encouraging them to hurry back, at least for now.
The Israeli government has been funding housing for many displaced northern residents. In August, it approved an expansion of the state budget to allow that money to keep flowing this year. Questions remain about when and how damaged homes will be repaired.
Truce violations
The cease-fire largely brought peace to Lebanon and Israel, but both countries claimed some truce violations on Wednesday.
In a briefing with reporters late in the day, Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, Israel’s chief military spokesman, said that Israeli troops had killed Hezbollah operatives and had detained and captured suspects who were being interrogated. Mr. Netanyahu’s office said in a statement that Israel would “continue acting forcefully against any violation.”
Lebanon’s state news agency reported that Israeli troops violated the cease-fire on Wednesday, firing at journalists who were reporting from a town in southern Lebanon. The Israeli military said it had received reports that “several journalists” were injured in the Khiam area of southern Lebanon but that “following an initial inquiry” it was “unaware of fire” toward the journalists. It added that the incident was under review.
A United Nations peacekeeping force in Lebanon, known as UNIFIL and made up of about 10,000 civilians and soldiers from around 50 countries, is tasked with monitoring and reporting violations. The peacekeeping force had a similar mandate under a 2006 cease-fire deal that ended the last war between Israel and Hezbollah and that provides the basic framework for the latest agreement.
On Wednesday, UNIFIL said in a statement that it “welcomes the announcement of the cessation of hostilities” and was “ready to support Lebanon and Israel in this new phase.”
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