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Almost immediately after Hamas’ terrorist attack on Israel on October 7 last year, Hezbollah joined hostilities against Israel and continued offensive rocket attacks on northern Israeli cities and settlements, while the Israelis killed Hezbollah commanders in airstrikes and drone attacks. Targeted. But fighting remained confined to a narrow strip of territory in northern Israel and southern Lebanon. But 60,000 Israelis were displaced from northern Israel due to Hezbollah attacks.
The Israelis then intensified their airstrikes targeting Hezbollah facilities and commanders in southern Lebanon, without much concern for civilian casualties. By the end of the month, they began attacking targets in Beirut and on 27 September, they succeeded in killing Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in an airstrike along with Abbas Nilforoshan, the deputy commander of the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guards.
In early October, Israel escalated the war by launching a ground invasion of southern Lebanon, and at the same time, launched widespread airstrikes across the country with the aim of destroying Hezbollah.
The big question is why Israel agreed to a ceasefire at this stage.
This was responded by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who released a pre-recorded speech at the cabinet meeting approving the ceasefire, stating that he supports a ceasefire in Lebanon for three reasons:
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This enables Israel to focus its energies on dealing with the threat from Iran.
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This would enable the country to replenish its arsenal, possibly through American supplies.
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This was to isolate Hamas in Gaza, which Netanyahu sees as a primary rival.
America has played an important role in making the ceasefire successful. This was worked out by its envoy Amos Hochstein’s shuttle diplomacy, which began in August this year. This required considerable effort on his part, as well as on the part of the US State Department. Difficulties in convincing both sides to reach an agreement led the US envoy to threaten to walk out of the talks.
