Will the ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah stick?

Lebanon celebrated a rare moment of joy as displaced families began to return to their homes after a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah came into effect on Wednesday. The people breathed a sigh of relief – for now.

Almost 4.000 people have been killed in Israel’s war in Lebanon and about 1.2 million displaced. Entire villages have been wiped off the map.

After Hamas launched its deadly October 7 attack last year, prompting a devastating military response by Israel on Gaza, Lebanon’s Hezbollah engaged in the fighting almost immediately. It began launching rockets towards Israel, igniting an exchange of fire across their shared border.

The world warned against allowing the war in Gaza to spill over into the rest of the region, but that's what happened. Israel launched a ground invasion into Lebanon in late September and carried out a devastating bombing campaign. The war seemed to have no clear end in sight – until now.

A US-brokered deal came through at the last minute on Tuesday evening, amid heavy Israeli bombardment across Beirut. It maps out the terms of a 60-day truce that is designed to become a permanent ceasefire. The question is, will it last?

In this episode of Beyond The Headlines, host Nada AlTaher examines how the terms of the agreement will translate on the ground and whether the deal could lead to a ceasefire in Gaza. We hear from The National’s foreign editor Mohamad Ali Harisi and from David Wood, senior analyst for Lebanon at the Crisis Group.