THE UN PEACEKEEPING force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) has welcomed the ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, saying it has begun adjusting operations to the “new situation”.

The ceasefire, which into effect overnight after a US-brokered deal was approved on both sides, appears to be holding.

“We will continue performing our mandated tasks, and we have already begun adjusting our operations to the new situation,” UNIFIL said in a statement, adding that peacekeepers “stand ready to support Lebanon and Israel in this new phase”.

“We will cooperate with all relevant partners to make the cessation of hostilities work,” it said.

In Lebanon, more than 900,000 people fled their homes in recent weeks, according to the UN, as Israel pounded the country, focusing in particular on areas where Hezbollah holds sway.

Today residents in cars heaped with belongings began streaming back towards southern Lebanon, despite warnings from the Israeli and Lebanese militaries that they should stay away from certain areas.

If it holds, the ceasefire would bring an end to nearly 14 months of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, which escalated in mid-September into all-out war and threatened to pull Hezbollah’s patron, Iran, and Israel’s closest ally, the US, into a broader regional conflagration.

However, just yesterday, Israeli warplanes carried out the most intense wave of strikes in Beirut and its southern suburbs since the start of the conflict and issued a record number of evacuation warnings.

At least 24 people were killed in strikes across the country, according to local authorities, as Israel signalled it aims to keep pummelling Hezbollah before the ceasefire is set to take hold at 4am local time on Wednesday.

Another huge air strike shook Beirut shortly after the ceasefire was announced.

The Israeli army has announced restrictions on people’s movements in south Lebanon after dark.

Residents will be barred from travelling south of the Litani River, some 30 kilometres from the border, between 3pm GMT and 5am GMT tomorrow. They will also be barred from returning to villages the army has ordered evacuated.

60 Days

US President Joe Biden announced the ceasefire agreement, which means Israeli forces get to hold their positions but “a 60-day period will commence in which the Lebanese military and security forces will begin their deployment towards the south”, a US official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told reporters.

Then Israel will begin a phased withdrawal without a vacuum forming that Hezbollah or others could rush into, the official said.

The United States is Israel’s key ally and military backer, and Biden hailed the deal as “good news” and a “new start” for Lebanon.

Netanyahu thanked Biden for his involvement in brokering the deal, under whose terms Israel will maintain freedom to act against Hezbollah should it pose any new threat.