Libanon

Lebanese army chief Joseph Aoun was voted in as president in a second round of parliamentary voting Thursday, ending a more than two-year vacuum in the war-battered country.

Operations by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) north of the UN-monitored Blue Line in southern Lebanon have continued, according to the UN peacekeeping mission in the country, UNIFIL. 

Israeli forces withdrew Wednesday from a strategic town in southern Lebanon and were replaced by Lebanese troops as part of a ceasefire agreement between Israel and the militant group Hezbollah.

The Israeli military carried out air strikes in Lebanon Saturday against Hezbollah activities that it said “posed a threat,” days into a fragile ceasefire between it and the Iran-backed group. The army said it had also struck “military infrastructure” on the Syria-Lebanon border, where it accused Hezbollah of smuggling weapons in violation of the truce.

Lebanon’s parliament will convene Jan. 9 for the election of a president, state media reported Thursday, following more than two years of presidential vacuum.

The Lebanese Army said Wednesday it was sending more troops to southern Lebanon to help oversee the first hours of the new ceasefire between Hezbollah militants and the Israeli military.

The ceasefire agreement in Lebanon represents “the first ray of hope for peace” in the regional war “amidst the darkness of the last few months”, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said on Wednesday in Lisbon.

United States envoy Amos Hochstein says there is a “real opportunity” to bring the conflict between Hezbollah and Israel to an end as he visits Lebanon to discuss a ceasefire. Hochstein made the remarks in Beirut on Tuesday after what he described as “very constructive talks” with Nabih Berri, the speaker of Lebanon’s parliament, who has been endorsed by Hezbollah to negotiate a deal.

Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem said on Wednesday that only developments on the battlefield, not political moves, would bring an end to the hostilities between the Lebanese armed group and the Israeli military. In a pre-recorded televised address, Qassem said there would be a road to indirect negotiations through the Lebanese state only if Israel stopped its attacks on Lebanon.

New Hezbollah leader Naim Kassem said Wednesday that the militant group would continue fighting Israel in Lebanon and northern Israel until it is offered cease-fire terms it considers acceptable.