Hours after US President Joe Biden announced a proposal to end the “devastating” conflict, which has killed thousands of people over the course of nearly 14 months of cross-border fighting, the ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah went into effect.
Many local positions were issued after the truce, which started at 4 AM on Wednesday.
Hennis-Plasschaert
Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, the Special Coordinator for Lebanon at the United Nations, has praised the announcement of a ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon.
Hennis-Plasschaert considered, in a statement released, that this agreement is a beginning point for a delicate process that will restore the safety and security that civilians on both sides of the Blue Line deserve, based on the full implementation of Resolution 1701 (2006).
She, however, noted that neither side can afford another period of non-serious implementation of the resolution under the guise of apparent calm.
“It is time to take concrete steps to solidify today’s achievement,” she disclosed.
US Embassy in Lebanon
The United States’ Embassy in Lebanon quoted US President Joe Biden describing the ceasefire as a deal which “supports Lebanon’s sovereignty.”
“If fully implemented, this deal can put Lebanon on a path toward a future that’s worthy of its significant past,” the embassy stated.
Nabih Berri
Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri thanked Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati for “bearing burdens and pursuing efforts to reach the ceasefire,” pointing that “Lebanon was able to thwart the effects of the Israeli aggression and start a new phase after the ceasefire agreement.”
He reiterated the call for electing a new president for the Republic “who unites and does not divide.”
Najib Mikati
Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati made clear that “this is a new day, which we hope will bring stability,” calling on the Lebanese to “take lessons from this difficult phase.”
Speaking in a press conference after the cabinet session, Mikati stressed that the government will implement Resolution 1701 in all its aspects, especially regarding the redeployment of the Lebanese Army in southern Lebanon.
Additionally, he thanked UNIFIL, reaffirming that “everyone must join hands to reform and build the state and work to regain the world’s trust.”
Samir Geagea
Samir Geagea, head of the Lebanese Forces Party noted that there will be no return to the situation that prevailed in Lebanon before October 7, 2023.
While meeting the new Swedish ambassador to Lebanon, Jessica Svärdström, he refused “any settlement or compromise with illegal weapons after all the destruction, death, displacement and devastation that Hezbollah’s wrong strategy has brought to the country.”
Michel Sleiman
For his part, former President Michel Sleiman said in a statement, “The ceasefire will set off today on a road littered with rubble and surrounded by destruction, after a vicious and harmful attack.”
He also emphasized the need to renounce weapons, “all weapons south and north of the Litani, in the Beqaa, Beirut and the North, and limiting them to the Lebanese Army and the legitimate forces.”
Bilal Abdullah
MP Bilal Abdullah, a member of the ‘Democratic Gathering’, stressed that “the next day is to heal the wounds, stabilize the unity of the country, build constitutional institutions and reconstruction and search for formulas that prove the Taif Accord, which protects the country from sectarian strife.”
In an interview with “Voice of All Lebanon” radio, he called for “narrowing the distances in order to stabilize the protection of this country.”
Osama Saad
Secretary-General of the Nasserist Popular Organization, MP Osama Saad, wondered if there are any obligation in the agreement made with Israel under American auspices toward people’s losses and their enormous sacrifices.
“People return to their towns and villages without the certainty that the state will fulfill its duty in terms of compensation, rebuilding what was destroyed and protecting them from aggression,” he wrote on his X account.
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