Bishop Zaidan: Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire sparks “profound hope”

A ceasefire brokered by the US and France between Israel and the Lebanese-based militant group Hezbollah is being welcomed with “profound hope,” said Bishop A Elias Zaidan of the Maronite Eparchy of Our Lady of Lebanon, chairman of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on International Justice and Peace.

The ceasefire was announced 26 November, with President Joe Biden telling reporters at the White House Rose Garden that Israel and Lebanon’s governments had accepted the proposal, which was developed with help of French President Emmanuel Macron.

Under the terms of the ceasefire, which took effect at 4 am local time 27 November, “the fighting across the Lebanese-Israeli border will end” in what “is designed to be a permanent cessation of hostilities,” said Biden.

The ceasefire aims to address one front of the Israel-Hamas war, which was launched in the wake of Hamas’ 7 October, 2023, attack on Israel, when militants from the Gaza Strip gunned down more than 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and took over 240 civilians and soldiers hostage.

In September, the conflict extended into Lebanon, where the Iran-backed Shia militia Hezbollah is based.

“It is in a spirit of profound hope that I welcome news that, after more than a year of fighting and thousands of deaths, a ceasefire has been agreed upon by Israel and Hezbollah,” Bishop Zaidan said in a 27 November statement.