Important Takeaways:

• Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah forces agreed to a ceasefire Tuesday in a deal brokered by the U.S. and France that could bring to an end more than a year’s worth of heavy fighting along the border between Israel and Lebanon.
• Under the deal, all fighting between Israel and the powerful Lebanese Shiite movement was to cease early Wednesday, President Biden said in remarks from the White House. He spoke just hours after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu endorsed the agreement in a nationally televised address. Over the next 60 days, Israel will start to withdraw its troops from the region as Lebanon’s army moves in to assume control.
• Netanyahu and other top Israeli officials said punishing strikes in recent months had effectively decapitated Hezbollah and significantly weakened its force as a military threat to Israel.
• “This is not the same Hezbollah. Hezbollah chose to attack us from there on Oct. 8. We set it back decades,” Mr. Netanyahu said in his address. “We eliminated [Hezbollah leader Hassan] Nasrallah. We eliminated all the senior officials of the organization and thousands of terrorists.”
• Biden said he hoped the 60-day accord would turn into a permanent halt to the war: “What is left of Hezbollah and other terrorist organizations will not be allowed, I emphasize, will not be allowed, to threaten the security of Israel again.
• One sticking point was uncertain: Israel’s demand that it be allowed to resume the military campaign if the ceasefire does not hold. The length of the ceasefire depends entirely on what happens in Lebanon, and Israel maintains complete freedom of military action, the prime minister said.
• The deal between Hezbollah and Israel does not affect the fight in the Gaza Strip with Palestinian Hamas militants. Months of U.S. efforts to negotiate a ceasefire with the release of dozens of hostages held by Hamas have failed to achieve a breakthrough.

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