They affirm that France and the United States are preparing to announce the ceasefire between Hezbollah and Israel

French President Emmanuel Macron and American President Joe Biden are going to announce a ceasefire in Lebanon “some time on Tuesday.” It will be after frenetic negotiations and pressure on France, so that it does not stop to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu by order of the International Criminal Court for war crimes in Gaza, if he steps on its territory.

Lebanon demanded that it be France with whom he maintains historic ties, who will guarantee this ceasefire, which could last 60 days but would not mean the end of the war.

Israel had been insisting that France not be a party to the agreement or a member of the international committee that will oversee its implementation. They attributed to him a perceived hostility toward Israel in recent months under President Emanuel Macron, according to Israeli sources. Macron repeatedly called for an arms embargo on Israel, characterizing it as the path to ending the war, sparking a diplomatic crisis.

Once France indicated on Friday that it would not commit to arresting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, following arrest warrants issued against him by the International Criminal Court, The Israeli government changed its mind. France said that just “take note” of the decision. Thus Israel was willing to accept French participation.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was scheduled to convene the high-level security cabinet in Tel Aviv this Tuesday night. to approve a 60-day ceasefire with Hezbollah in Lebanon after more than a year of war, an Israeli official told The Times of Israel.

The official emphasized that Israel was agreeing to a cessation of hostilities, not an end to the war against Hezbollah. “We don’t know how long it will last,” the official said of the ceasefire. “It could be a month, it could be a year,” he speculated.

Lebanese and French sources said late Monday that U.S. President Joe Biden and French President Emmanuel Macron were expected to announce “a ceasefire imminently.” But no one is speculating at what time.

In Washington, White House national security spokesman John Kirby said: “We’re close.” But “nothing is done until everything is done.”

In the agreement, The Lebanese army will be able to move to southern Lebanon where Hezbollah is currently fighting and where the Shiite population lived before the massive and forced displacement by Israel.

Israel will be able to attack Hezbollah if it sees it rearming or moving in the area.

Israel has insisted that it should retain the right to attack southern Lebanon if attacked by Hezbollah. Lebanon has previously opposed formalizing such a guarantee.

“Israel’s freedom to act in Lebanon after the ceasefire is guaranteed by a letter between this country and the United States,” according to diplomatic sources. “The Israel Defense Forces will be able to operate not only against those who try to attack Israel, but also against Hezbollah’s attempts to increase its military power,” explained an Israeli source.

Israel decided he had no choice but to accept a ceasefire partly out of fear that the US administration could punish Israel with a United Nations Security Council resolution, in Biden’s final weeks in power, the source said.

Israel also lacks the capabilities it needs from the United States, including 134 D9 excavators.

Meanwhile, a Lebanese official said Washington had told Beirut that a deal could be announced “within hours.”

The vice president of Lebanon’s parliament, Elias Bou Saab, said on Monday that no “serious obstacles” remain to begin the implementation of the truce proposed by the United States.

He said a sticking point over who will oversee the ceasefire was resolved in the past 24 hours by agreeing to create a committee of five countries, including France, and chaired by the United States.

Despite moves to stop the fighting, Both Israel and Hezbollah continued to exchange fire on Monday. On Tuesday they launched an extensive bombardment on Beirut and their troops settled on the Litani River.

Israeli troops have made their deepest advance into Lebanon since the start of the war, advancing north to the Litani River just as the country is expected to approve a ceasefire deal on its northern front.

The Israeli military said on Tuesday it had raided Hezbollah’s “hidden infrastructure in complex terrain,” with weapons hidden deep inside the mountainside in the Litani area.

The river marks a demarcation line where Shiite militias would have to retreat under the agreement that ended previous fighting between the warring sides in 2006.

Under the terms of the draft agreement, Israel would withdraw its troops from southern Lebanon and they would be replaced by the regular Lebanese army within 60 days.

For years the Shiite population settled in the south of the country and in the south of Beirut, in a neighborhood guarded by Hezbollah. Faced with the brutal Israeli bombing of the neighborhood and the death of the party’s leader and general secretary, Hassan Nasrallah, and the departure of its new boss, Nassan Khassem to Tehran to protect themselves from the decapitation of the party of God for Israel, the Shiites have begun to raise their complaints against them. There is a real divisiondespite the fear, in the face of the destruction that Hezbollah has caused to its population, to its homes, to its businesses and to its future.

The fury began when the port of Beirut, which was under their control, exploded and the ammonium nitrate deposit, that indiscriminately destroyed the city. It left 200 dead and 6,500 injured in August 2020. The bombings and the flight of thousands of displaced people from the south in this latest war with Israel contributed to this deep unrest, when there is talk that it could lead Lebanon to another civil war.

The displaced Shiites settled in Hamra, a neighborhood of Beirut that is the territory of Sunni Muslims. Billionaire Rafic Hariri lived there before being assassinated, in his mansion. Today the neighborhood has been colonized by the Shiites from the south, the displaced, women in black chador and balconies converted into clotheslines. It is the new image of the desolation and poverty of Beirut.

Few Shiites would dare to speak for fear of being “perceived as traitors”. Christians and Sunnis would have been strengthened in their hostility towards the Shiite party. But the reality is that a new feeling has emerged in the country: a rejection of Hezbollah as strong as the rejection of Israel.

Today there is a “complicated” relationship, exacerbated by the war.

A merchant who arrived from the south of Beirut returned to his neighborhood to try to rescue the merchandise from his business, in the heart of Hezbollah’s neighborhood, threatened by more Israeli bombings. He got it.

While his business has been completely paralyzed since the conflict escalated in late September, he says “has always hated Hezbollah.” Even before the war broke out between the Shia party and Israel just over a year ago.

“Hezbollah It is a resistance paid by Iran. “We entered the war to serve Iran’s regional calculations,” explained this man, who admits that his feelings towards the Shiite party are difficult to discuss with his wife and in-laws, still supporters of Hezbollah, despite the war that has displaced them. “I would like the party to lay down its arms, but since I come from the South, I would also like Hezbollah to be replaced by someone who can protect us from Israel,” he continued, who however believes that his wish “is not realistic.”

For many years, Israeli attacks were centralized in the south of the country, but this time they spread to the capital itself. There is no safe place in Beirut, with a million displaced, living where they can. The neighborhood difference for the 18 communities into which the country is divided disappeared. The World Bank estimates the material damage caused by the war at more than $8.5 billion.

“Hezbollah is waging an absurd war and has led us into chaos. Their supporters have been brainwashed,” sighs a 34-year-old Shiite, who had to take refuge in Qatar in October, at a time when Israeli attacks on the southern suburbs were increasingly violent. “I support any resistance against Israel,” he moderates.

On the side of the “unconditional” supporters, a professor based in Nigeria stated that the war reinforced her convictions. “Hezbollah is the only one that can stand up to Israel,” she says.

Divergent opinions that reflect the complexity of the relationship that unites the Lebanese with Hezbollah. At the same time, a “resistance” movement in the Lebanese constitution, a political party, a social organization and a regional army. A relationship exacerbated by the war, which further reveals the feelings of adoration or hatred towards the pro-Iranian formation, accused of being responsible for the outbreak of the conflict or, on the contrary, of being the last bulwark against the Israeli attack.

These dynamics are quite fluid, given that most Lebanese today seem to feel a sense of hostility toward both Israel and Hezbollah.

Within the Shiite community, the one most affected by the fighting, it expresses itself in a much more discreet way, given the fear, the taboos and the strength of the bond that still unites the party with large sectors of this community.

Given the magnitude of the tragedy, “Hezbollah supporters, as well as members of the Shiite community, are under pressure and They have a complicated relationship with the party”analyzed historian Makram Rabah. “They cannot criticize Hezbollah at this time, lest they be seen as traitors,” he explained.