{"id":19534,"date":"2024-11-28T23:54:49","date_gmt":"2024-11-28T23:54:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/?p=19534"},"modified":"2024-11-28T23:54:49","modified_gmt":"2024-11-28T23:54:49","slug":"ceasefire-largely-holds-but-israelis-near-lebanon-border-have-their-doubts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/?p=19534","title":{"rendered":"Ceasefire largely holds but Israelis near Lebanon border have their doubts"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"ReutersReuters<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Many homes in Kiryat Shmona are damaged – some residents say the ceasefire will bring the town back to life<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n
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Israel says its forces fired artillery and carried out airstrikes against targets in southern Lebanon, on the second day of a ceasefire brokered after more than a year of war between Israel and the Lebanese militia group Hezbollah.<\/p>\n

The Israeli army said it had fired at suspects after spotting activity at a Hezbollah weapons facility, and vehicles arriving in several areas that breached the terms of the ceasefire deal.<\/p>\n

Lebanon accused Israel of violating the agreement \u201cmultiple times\u201d and said it was monitoring the situation.<\/p>\n

Despite fraying around the edges, so far the ceasefire appears to be largely holding, and the Israeli military road leading to the northern tip of the Lebanese border was sleepier than it has been for months. Through the open gates of bases, soldiers were carrying out routine maintenance, stick figures on the lines of tanks, etched against the late afternoon sky.<\/p>\n

One captain, who crossed out of Lebanon this morning, told me he and his team were happy to be out of the fighting and going back to their lives \u2013 but that they all hoped they had done enough.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf not, we all understand that we\u2019ll find ourselves back here soon enough,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cPersonally, I think there\u2019s still work to be done. It\u2019s clear that Hezbollah is still strong enough to threaten Israel.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Israel\u2019s leaders are signalling their confidence to the public \u2013 lifting daily restrictions in some areas, and removing blast walls and makeshift shelters from border roads.<\/p>\n

Prime Minister Netanyahu has also vowed an “intensive war” if Hezbollah violates the ceasefire. <\/p>\n

There is vocal support from Washington for using this truce as a springboard to a wider regional ceasefire. And Hamas has reportedly signalled its willingness to talk about a deal along similar lines.<\/p>\n

But there are many voices here in the north who say the ceasefire with Hezbollah is a mistake, even a \u201csurrender\u201d.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\"Mayor<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s more a surrender agreement than a ceasefire,\u201d said Mayor Kabesa<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n
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One of them is Michael Kabesa, mayor for the northern community of Hatzor Haglilit.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s more a surrender agreement than a ceasefire,\u201d he told me. \u201cWe didn\u2019t finish the job, we stopped at 70% \u2013 so they will grow, restore their abilities, and we will meet again in another 20 years.\u201d<\/p>\n

The focus on this side of the border is when and how residents might begin to return to communities that were evacuated at the start of the war, almost 14 months ago.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need a very safe parameter,\u201d Mayor Kabesa told me. \u201cWe need to see the army on the border on a big scale, so it will give us confidence.\u201d<\/p>\n

Israeli forces are due to gradually hand over control of southern areas of Lebanon over the next two months, to the Lebanese army, with Unifil support, and oversight from the American military and the French.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Americans and the French are a really nice addition,\u201d said Mr Kabesa, \u201cbut we know that no power, no international force, can enforce the situation. We need to take care of ourselves \u2013 this is the biggest lesson after 7 October.\u201d<\/p>\n

The 7 October attacks on Israel last year \u2013 carried out by the Palestinian armed group Hamas, a Hezbollah ally in Gaza \u2013 have transformed social and political life here.<\/p>\n

Mayor Kabesa was among the first Israeli soldiers who helped to clear the ravaged kibbutzim around the Gaza border in the early days after the attack.<\/p>\n

What he saw after the Hamas invasion, he said, has changed his assessment of security in the north.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\"Israeli<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

The Israeli military has marked where returning Lebanese residents should not go beyond for the moment<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n
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But there are some in these northern communities who have refused to evacuate during almost 14 months of war, staying on in abandoned towns that were regularly hit by Hezbollah rockets and missiles.<\/p>\n

Chris Coyle, originally from Edinburgh, is one of only four residents left in his apartment complex in Kiryat Shmona.<\/p>\n

All the windows in his block \u2013 and those of the buildings 200m around it \u2013 are boarded up, after being blown out when a missile landed in the road outside several months ago.<\/p>\n

Rockets and missiles landed here several times a day \u2013 sometimes several times an hour.<\/p>\n

Before Israel sent ground forces into Lebanon to push back Hezbollah positions, Chris had four seconds to get to the safe room \u2013 it wasn\u2019t enough, so he used to just lie on the kitchen floor, using the fridge door as a shield.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need a ceasefire,\u201d he told me. \u201cIf it holds for a month, we can have some hope.\u201d<\/p>\n

For the past year, Kiryat Shmona has been a ghostly empty place, scarred by rockets, where lone soldiers buy off-duty supplies from the few shops still open.<\/p>\n

But Chris says a ceasefire will bring the town back to life.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve spoken to a lot of people who have said they\u2019ll come back,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019ll take a month or two, but they\u2019ll come back.\u201d<\/p>\n

The army captain I met on his way out of Lebanon today said he thought troops had delivered the opportunity for Israel to stop and evaluate the operation.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s a good time to give this a chance,\u201d he said. \u201cI hope the politicians will make the best out of it \u2013 and also to know when to stop accepting what the other side is doing, and react.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Source: <\/em> www.bbc.com\u2026<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Reuters Many homes in Kiryat Shmona are damaged – some residents say the ceasefire will bring the town back to life Israel says its forces fired artillery and carried out airstrikes against targets in southern Lebanon, on the second day of a ceasefire brokered after more than a year of war between Israel and the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19534","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19534","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=19534"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19534\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=19534"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=19534"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=19534"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}