Israel has agreed to a cease-fire agreement with Hezbollah terrorists that would end nearly 14 months of fighting, President Biden announced Tuesday.

Biden, speaking from the White House Rose Garden, said that Israel and Lebanon agreed to the deal. Israel retains the right to self-defense should Hezbollah break the pact, Biden said. 

“Let’s be clear. Israel did not launch this war. The Lebanese people did not seek that war either. Nor did the United States,” Biden said. “Security for the people of Israel and Lebanon cannot be achieved only on the battlefield. And that’s why I directed my team to work with the governments of Israel and Lebanon, to forge a cease-fire, to bring a conflict between Israel and Hezbollah to a close.”

“This is designed to be a permanent cessation of hostilities,” Biden added. “What is left of Hezbollah and other terrorist organizations will not be allowed. Well, I emphasize, will not be allowed to threaten the security of Israel again.”

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In a prepared joint statement with Biden and French President Emmanuel Macron, both leaders said the cease-fire would restore calm and allow residents of both countries to return to their homes on both sides of the Blue Line, the demarcation line between Israel and Lebanon. 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke with Biden and “thanked him for the US involvement in achieving the ceasefire agreement in Lebanon and for the understanding that Israel maintains freedom of action in enforcing it,” his office said. 

Netanyahu’s security Cabinet convened earlier Tuesday, when ministers had been deliberating for more than three hours over the proposed deal. The political-security cabinet approved the United States’ proposal for a ceasefire arrangement in Lebanon, with 10 ministers in favor and one opposed, Netanyahu’s office said. 

At a press conference while deliberations were ongoing, Netanyahu laid out three reasons in support of the deal: to focus on the Iranian threat; provide an opportunity to refresh the Israeli forces; and separate Hamas from the northern front. 

The conflict in Lebanon began when Hezbollah, which is backed by Iran, initiated strikes into Israel’s north after Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. Since the back-and-forth began, Israel has killed many of Hezbollah’s leaders, in addition to degrading its infrastructure in Lebanon. 

By ending the conflict with Hezbollah, Netanyahu said Hamas would stand alone in the Gaza Strip, clearing the way for Israeli forces to recover the remaining Oct. 7 hostages. 

President Joe Biden speaks in the Rose Garden at the White House, Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2024, in Washington.  (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta))

Earlier, Netanyahu said he would present the agreement to the Cabinet for a vote later Tuesday. 

“How long it will be will depends on what will happen in Lebanon,” Netanyahu said. “If Hezbollah doesn’t follow the agreement, we’ll attack.” 

Under the proposed terms of an initial two-month cease-fire, Hezbollah would have been required to move its forces north of the Litani River – a significant focal point which in some places is 20 miles from the Israeli border – and Israeli forces must withdraw from southern Lebanon as well. The Lebanese armed forces are to deploy to the border region within 60 days, and a five-country committee chaired by the U.S., and including France, would monitor compliance of the terms of the deal, Reuters reported. 

Rocket alarms began sounding Tuesday evening across Israel around the time the deal was accepted. 

“Israel: We accept your request for a ceasefire. Hezbollah: We raise you a barrage of missiles,” Eylon Levy, a former spokesman for Israel, wrote on X. 

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, backed Israel in a statement, but criticized former President Barack Obama and the Biden administration over its handling of the conflict. 

“I am deeply disturbed both by reports that Obama-Biden officials exerted enormous pressure on our Israeli allies to accept this ceasefire and by how those officials are characterizing Israel’s obligations,” Cruz said. “This pressure and these statements are further efforts to undermine Israel and constrain the incoming Trump administration.”

ISRAEL ‘MOVING FORWARD’ ON POSSIBLE HEZBOLLAH CEASE-FIRE, OFFICIAL SAYS

Among the remaining issues was Israel’s demand to reserve the right to take military action should Hezbollah violate its obligations under the emerging deal.

Smoke rises following Israeli bombardment in southern Lebanon as seen from northern Israel on Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

“Obama-Biden officials pressured our Israeli allies into accepting the ceasefire by withholding weapons they needed to defend themselves and counter Hezbollah, and by threatening to facilitate a further, broader, binding international arms embargo through the United Nations,” he added. “Obama-Biden officials are already trying to use Israel’s acceptance of this ceasefire to ensure that Hezbollah and other Iranian terrorist groups remain intact across Lebanon, and to limit Israel’s future freedom of action and self-defense.”

Republicans have criticized the Biden administration for constraining Israel while fighting off attacks from terrorist neighbors. 

In addition to the cease-fire, a peacekeeping mission by observers from the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon will also continue, according to the Israeli news agency Tazpit Press Service (TPS-IL). 

The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) said earlier Tuesday that its ground troops have reached parts of Lebanon’s Litani River – considered a longtime Hezbollah stronghold. 

In a statement, the IDF said its troops had reached the Wadi Slouqi area in southern Lebanon and “raided Hezbollah strongholds, uncovering and confiscating hundreds of weapons, dismantling dozens of underground facilities, and neutralizing numerous rocket launchers that were prepared for imminent use.” 

The IDF said the clashes with Hezbollah took place on the eastern end of the Litani, just a few miles from the border. It is one of the deepest places Israeli forces have reached in a nearly two-month ground operation.

The Israeli military said troops “conducted intelligence-based raids based on terrorist infrastructure concealed in the complex terrain.” 

Israeli soldiers at the Litani River in southern Lebanon on Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2024. (IDF Spokesperson/TPS-IL)

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“The soldiers raided several terrorist targets, engaged in close-quarters combat with terrorists, located and destroyed dozens of launchers, thousands of rockets and missiles, and weapons storage facilities hidden in the mountainside,” the IDF said. 

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., praised the deal, saying it would allow Israelis displaced in the north to return to their homes and ensure Israel’s security against Hezbollah. 

“As this agreement shows, when terrorists are beaten back both militarily and through dogged diplomacy, the likelihood of peace increases. Hezbollah said they would never give up as long as there was fighting in Gaza, but today’s ceasefire agreement should show Hamas they are as isolated as ever,” Schumer said in a statement. “Now, Hamas must release all the remaining hostages and come to a negotiated ceasefire. Carrying on their failed strategy will lead only to further suffering and SENSELESS bloodshed in Gaza. Hamas must recognize that there’s no future without a strong and secure state of Israel.”

“The Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire agreement also provides an enforcement mechanism to help ensure Hezbollah remains weakened and allows displaced Lebanese and Israeli civilians to return to their homes,” he added. “I applaud the Biden administration for this agreement and for continuing to work to negotiate a ceasefire and the return of all the hostages in Gaza.”

Hezbollah began attacking Israel on Oct. 8, 2023, a day after Hamas terrorists killed more than 1,200 people and took more than 250 hostages from southern Israel into Gaza, setting off more than a year of fighting. That escalated in September with massive Israeli airstrikes across Lebanon, and an Israeli ground incursion into the country’s south. Hezbollah has fired thousands of rockets into Israeli military bases, cities and towns, including some 250 projectiles on Sunday.

More than 68,000 Israelis have been displaced from their homes along the Lebanese border, TPS-IL reports.

A Middle East Airlines plane flies as smoke rises following an Israeli airstrike on Dahiyeh, in Beirut on Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

An Israeli strike on Tuesday leveled a residential building in the central Beirut district of Basta — the second time in recent days warplanes have hit the crowded area near the city’s downtown. 

The Israeli military also issued warnings for 20 more buildings in Beirut’s Hezbollah-controlled suburbs to evacuate before they too were struck — a move carried out in the final moments before any cease-fire took hold.

Speaking on the sidelines of a Group of Seven meeting in Italy, the European Union’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, said Tuesday there were “no excuses” for Israel to refuse a cease-fire with Hezbollah, warning that without it, “Lebanon will fall apart.”

The Times of Israel reported that Minister of Defense Israel Katz met with the U.N. Special Envoy for Lebanon Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert on Tuesday, when he said Jerusalem would have “Zero tolerance” for any violation of the truce, warning that “If you don’t do it, we will … and with great force.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

A positive outcome is all but guaranteed when the European Parliament votes on whether to approve President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen’s new team of commissioners in its entirety, but there are good reasons to monitor Wednesday’s vote in the Strasbourg closely.

Parliament will vote to approve the incoming Commission, having previously endorsed all 26 commissioners through a backroom deal among centrist groups: the European People’s Party (EPP), the Socialists and Democrats (S&D), and Renew Europe.

The new Commission requires an absolute majority of votes cast to be approved and take office in December. While this outcome seems likely, who votes for and against it remains somewhat uncertain. This is significant because it could shape and influence the parliamentary majority for the entire legislative term.

A twist in the pro-EU majority?

In July, Ursula von der Leyen was re-elected with 401 votes. At that time, the vote was conducted by secret ballot, though groups had publicly declared their intentions. Beyond the three centrist groups, the Greens/EFA group also supported von der Leyen. The Left group and all right-wing political forces voted against or abstained, with a few exceptions among the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR).

The result suggested a majority in the European Parliament resembling that of the previous legislature: centrist pro-EU groups, with close cooperation from the Greens.

However, the situation now could be very different. Firstly, the new Commission lineup includes Raffaele Fitto, a vice president from the right-wing Brothers of Italy party.

While von der Leyen has emphasized collaboration with “pro-EU”, “pro-Ukraine”, and “pro-rule of law” political forces, the chair of her EPP group in Parliament, Manfred Weber, has hinted at a broader coalition. He envisaged a “broad centre in the European Parliament, from the Greens to ECR.”

“My majority, if I may say so, is becoming real. And that makes me happy because we need broader stability in the European Parliament,” Weber said during a press conference in Strasbourg on Tuesday.

Such a majority could shift EU policy significantly rightward on issues such as migration and the environment. However, it also remains to be seen how von der Leyen’s grand centrist alliance holds in the voting tomorrow.

Defections and Divisions

Spain’s centre-right Partido Popular (PP) has announced it will not support the Commission due to the inclusion of Spanish Vice President Teresa Ribera, a member of its rival centre-left PSOE (S&D) party, in the lineup, according to the Spanish press agency EFE. The PP has not clarified whether its MEPs will vote against or abstain.

Within the Socialists, several MEPs are also dissatisfied with the new Commission’s composition. Dutch and Belgian members plan to vote against it, while other delegations may abstain, according to sources from the group. French Socialists have already declared their opposition. “We do not accept a far-right executive vice president such as Raffaele Fitto. I will vote against his inclusion in this Commission,” MEP Claire Fita told Euronews.

The deepest divisions, however, are among the Greens/EFA group on the left and the Conservatives on the right.

The Greens claim to be part of a “four-group majority” in the European Parliament and are ready to “work constructively” while opposing the far right. However, the group itself is split, as revealed during a meeting on Monday evening. Only a slim majority, led by German MEPs, supports the Commission, while French, Austrian, and Italian members plan to vote against it, according to multiple sources.

On the right, some members of the ECR group are eager to join the new majority, while others remain firmly opposed.

The Brothers of Italy, the largest delegation in the group, will vote in favour, as the new Commission includes one of its members as vice president. Other ECR delegations are expected to follow suit, according to group sources.

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However, Polish and French members will oppose the Commission, including prominent French MEP Marion Maréchal, niece of far-right leader Marine Le Pen, who has criticised the designated commissioners. “Beyond the lack of competence of [French commissioner] Stéphane Séjourné, we face a commissioner for energy transition known for her anti-nuclear stance, a commissioner for demography who views immigration as a solution to declining birthrates, and a commissioner for equality who champions a pro-LGBTIQ+ agenda,” she told Euronews.

As the vote will be cast openly, the new commissioners will see which MEPs they can rely on. Two thresholds will be critical for their success: the 401 votes von der Leyen secured in July and the 461 that approved the previous Commission in November 2019.

MEXICO CITY (AP) — President Claudia Sheinbaum suggested Tuesday that Mexico could retaliate with tariffs of its own, after U.S. President-elect Donald Trump threatened to impose 25% import duties on Mexican goods if the country doesn’t stop the flow of drugs and migrants across the border.

Sheinbaum said she was willing to engage in talks on the issues, but said drugs were a U.S. problem.

“One tariff would be followed by another in response, and so on until we put at risk common businesses,” Sheinbaum said, referring to U.S. automakers that have plants on both sides of the border.

She said Tuesday that Mexico had done a lot to stem the flow of migrants, noting “caravans of migrants no longer reach the border.”

She also said Mexico had worked to stem the flow of drugs like the deadly synthetic opioid fentanyl, despite an influx of weapons smuggled in from the United States. She said the flow of drugs “is a problem of public health and consumption in your country’s society.”

Sheinbaum also criticized U.S. spending on weapons, saying the money should instead be spent regionally to address the problem of migration. “If a percentage of what the United States spends on war were dedicated to peace and development, that would address the underlying causes of migration,” she said.

Sheinbaum’s bristly response suggests that Trump faces a much different Mexican president than he did in his first term.

Back in late 2018, former President Andrés Manuel López Obrador was a charismatic, old-school politician who developed a chummy relationship with Trump. The two were eventually able to strike a bargain in which Mexico helped keep migrants away from the border — and received other countries’ deported migrants — and Trump backed down on the threats.

But Sheinbaum, who took office Oct. 1, is a stern leftist ideologue trained in radical student protest movements, and appears less willing to pacify or mollify Trump.

However, it’s not clear how serious Trump’s threat is. The U.S.-Mexico-Canada free trade agreement forbids just imposing tariffs on other member countries. And it’s not clear whether the economy could even tolerate sudden levies on imports: Auto plants on both sides of the border rely on each other for parts and components, and some production lines could screech to a halt.

“It is unacceptable and would cause inflation and job losses in Mexico and the United States,” Sheinbaum said, while offering to talk about the issues.

“Dialogue is the best path to achieve understanding, peace and prosperity for our two countries,” Sheinbaum said. “I hope our teams can meet soon.”

Late Monday, Trump said he would impose a 25% tax on all products entering the country from Canada and Mexico, and an additional 10% tariff on goods from China, as one of his first executive orders.

The tariffs, if implemented, could dramatically raise prices for American consumers on everything from gas to automobiles to agricultural products. The U.S. is the largest importer of goods in the world, with Mexico, China and Canada its top three suppliers, according to the most recent U.S. Census data.

Trump made the threats Monday in a pair of posts on his Truth Social site in which he railed against an influx of illegal migrants, even though apprehensions at the southern border have been hovering near four-year lows.

“On January 20th, as one of my many first Executive Orders, I will sign all necessary documents to charge Mexico and Canada a 25% Tariff on ALL products coming into the United States, and its ridiculous Open Borders,” he wrote, complaining that “thousands of people are pouring through Mexico and Canada, bringing Crime and Drugs at levels never seen before,” even though violent crime is down from pandemic highs.

He said the new tariffs would remain in place “until such time as Drugs, in particular Fentanyl, and all Illegal Aliens stop this Invasion of our Country!”

“Both Mexico and Canada have the absolute right and power to easily solve this long simmering problem. We hereby demand that they use this power,” he went on, “and until such time that they do, it is time for them to pay a very big price!”