Editorial | Hezbollah-Israel ceasefire calls for care to ensure it remains
Diplomacy that clinched a 60-day deal between Israel and Hezbollah in southern Lebanon should also be put to work in Gaza
The fallout from the October 2023 outbreak of war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza included reignition of hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah militants supporting Hamas in southern Lebanon. The latter conflict has since cost nearly 4,000 militant and civilian lives in Lebanon, displaced more than 800,000 people and inflicted massive economic damage, mostly since Israel went on the offensive in September.
Even this toll is dwarfed by the humanitarian disaster of the Gaza conflict. But it comes as a relief from the regional trauma of two devastating wars that Iran-backed Hezbollah and Israel have agreed on a 60-day ceasefire, brokered by the United States and France, to give diplomacy a chance to craft a more lasting peace.
It is a chance that cannot be wasted. Apart from the immediate goal, the region and the world desperately need reassurance that diplomacy can prevail in the Middle East, even in the seemingly intractable catastrophe of Gaza.
It remains to be seen how it all plays into Israel’s resolve to destroy Hamas following the October 7, 2023, killing and kidnapping raids on Israel that took more than 1,200 lives.
Meanwhile, Lebanon’s army has been tasked with helping to make sure the ceasefire holds as tens of thousands displaced residents already make their way back home.
