- A ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah took effect at 4am local time in Lebanon (02:00 GMT) amid hopes the truce will bring a permanent end to Israeli attacks on Lebanese towns and cities, and stop more than a year of fighting in southern Lebanon and northern Israel.
- US President Joe Biden says the deal between Israel and Hezbollah involves Israeli forces withdrawing from Lebanon over 60 days, with Lebanon’s military taking control of territory in the south of the country to ensure Hezbollah does not rebuild forces.
- Al Jazeera’s correspondent in southern Lebanon Ali Hashem said Lebanese people are watching to see if the ceasefire is “going to hold, or not” and whether the war has truly “come to an end”.
- Israeli attacks have killed dozens in Gaza, including 13 people sheltering in a school in Gaza City’s Zeitoun neighbourhood.
- Israel’s genocide in Gaza has killed at least 44,249 Palestinians and wounded 104,746 others since October 7, 2023. At least 1,139 people were killed in Israel during the Hamas-led attacks that day, and more than 200 were taken captive.
- In Lebanon, at least 3,823 people have been killed and 15,859 wounded in Israeli attacks since the war on Gaza began.
- Scenes of destruction in Beirut’s southern suburbs following ceasefireVideo footage below shows scenes of destruction in southern Beirut after the ceasefire took effect, as verified by Al Jazeera’s fact-checking agency Sanad.The footage shows damage from strikes just before the ceasefire in the areas of Chiyah, Ghobeiry, Haret Hreik and other neighbourhoods.Translation: Haret Hreik area in the southern suburb after the ceasefire.Translation: This is how the southern suburb looked this morning as the ceasefire went into effect.Translation: Scenes showing the effects of major destruction in #Al-Ghobeiry – the #suburb after the ceasefire.
- ebanese residents return, survey the damage in war-torn NabatiehReporting from Nabatieh, southern LebanonThousands of people are returning to their homes, if indeed they have homes to return to.We are in the old historic market of Nabatieh, a city that has come under a lot of bombardment in recent weeks.The market has been levelled to the ground. Many neighbourhoods in the city look like this, with destruction on every street corner.For people here, this was part of a strategy of displacement.We have to remember that Lebanon before the war was already on the brink of collapse economically.So picking up the pieces is not going to be easy.
- Desperately hungry people in Gaza search through rubbish for foodThe UN agency for Palestinian refugees has said that people in Gaza are so hungry that they are increasingly “scavenging through weeks-old waste” to find something to eat.The conditions in the enclave are set to deteriorate even further as cold winter weather sets in, according to the agency, which called for more “immediate humanitarian aid”.Numerous human rights organisations have accused Israel of deliberately obstructing aid to Palestinian civilians in Gaza during the conflict, thereby using starvation as a weapon of war.
- Photos: Scenes of celebration, defiance as ceasefire takes hold in Lebanon
People flash victory signs as they return back to their villages after a ceasefire between Hezbollah and Israel began early on Wednesday morning, in Tyre city, south Lebanon [Hussein Malla/AP Photo]
- People hug each other upon arriving at their neighbourhood as they celebrate a ceasefire between Hezbollah and Israel, in Tyre [Hussein Malla/AP Photo]
- Men gesture while holding Hezbollah flags, at the entrance of Beirut’s southern suburbs on Wednesday morning [Thaier Al-Sudani/Reuters]
- People wave Lebanese and Amal Movement flags in Tyre, southern Lebanon [Aziz Taher/Reuters]
- A woman poses in front of a picture of slain Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, right, and slain Hezbollah official Hashem Safieddine, as she returns to Dahiyeh, in Beirut’s southern suburbs, in Lebanon, on Wednesday [Bilal Hussein/AP Photo]
- Houthis praise Hezbollah’s resilience, express support for ceasefire decisionYemen’s Houthi fighters “trust the choices” of Hezbollah, a spokesman for the armed group has said after the Lebanese movement entered into a ceasefire with Israel.Abdul Salam Salah praised the “steadfastness of Hezbollah and the dear Lebanese people in the face of the brutal Israeli aggression”.He added that the “Israeli enemy would not have submitted and accepted the ceasefire had it not clashed with a solid resistance that did not break in the face of the treacherous assassination crimes”.
LIVE: Relief and defiance in Lebanon as Israel, Hezbollah ceasefire starts
