Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire takes effect

BOTH SIDES ACCEPT AGREEMENT BROKERED BY US AND FRANCE

A ceasefire between Israel and Lebanese armed group Hezbollah held on Wednesday after the two sides struck a deal brokered by the US and France, a rare feat of diplomacy in West Asia wracked by two wars and several proxy conflicts for over a year.

The agreement ended the deadliest confrontation between Israel and the Iran-backed militant group in years but Israel is still fighting its other arch foe the Palestinian militant group Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

Lebanon's army, tasked with ensuring the ceasefire lasts, said it was preparing to deploy to the south of the country, a region Israel heavily bombarded in its battle against Hezbollah, along with eastern cities and towns and the armed group's stronghold in the southern suburbs of Beirut.

Cars and vans piled high with mattresses, suitcases, and even furniture streamed through the heavily-bombed southern port city of Tyre, heading south. Fighting had escalated drastically over the past two months, forcing hundreds of thousands of Lebanese from their homes.