International pressure is on Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Najib Mikati, Lebanon’s caretaker prime minister, to maintain the peace
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 into a broader conflagration.
Israel and Hezbollah began a ceasefire on Wednesday, but even if it holds, the devastation caused by more than 13 months of fighting will linger for years.
The ceasefire began at 4am in Lebanon after the heaviest day of raids on Beirut, including a series of strikes in the city’s centre, since Israel stepped up its air campaign in Lebanon in late September before sending in ground troops.