At 5pm EST on Thursday, a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Lebanon, mediated by the United States, went into effect.
Immediately following its start, intense gunfire has been reported in Beirut’s southern suburbs and the Bekaa Valley, according to Lebanese media.
Earlier on Thursday, U.S. President Donald Trump announced on Truth Social that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Lebanese President Joseph Aoun agreed to the ceasefire.
Pre-Ceasefire “Close-The-Loop” Operations
In the preceding hours, Israel and Hezbollah increased their pace of fire prior to the start of the agreement.
According to Arab media, Hezbollah launched 25 missiles and 3 drones towards northern Israel in the hour before the ceasefire. 6 people were injured in Karmiel and 8 people were injured in Nahariya from this barrage, according to Israel’s rescue services, and 2 cars in Nahariya caught fire.
Arab media spokesperson for the Israeli army Ella Waweya announced on X that the Israeli army struck missile launch platforms in southern Lebanon linked to Hezbollah. She also announced that Israeli forces struck more than 380 infrastructure sites linked to Hezbollah in “rapid close-the-loop operations.”
Earlier in the day, an Israeli strike in Ghazieh killed 7 people and wounded 33 more, the Lebanese Health Ministry reported, hours before the ceasefire entered into effect.
Netanyahu also said that Israel will hold onto a 10-kilometer buffer zone in southern Lebanon.
The Lebanese army urged citizens not to go to southern towns, warning against approaching Israeli forces, to defer to the instructions of Lebanese soldiers, and to be cautious of unexploded ordinances, according to AFP.
Hezbollah issued a statement advising against the return of displaced Lebanese to southern Lebanon, the Beqaa Valley, and Beirut’s southern suburbs “until the situation becomes completely clear.”
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