UN Resolution 1701 is the linchpin of the Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire. Will it hold?

Displaced residents return to the Dahiyeh suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, following the ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah that went into effect on November 27, 2024.

The ceasefire deal agreed to by Lebanon and Israel aims to reinvigorate a UN Security Council resolution adopted in 2006 after a previous war between Hezbollah and Israel. Observers say that circumstances are now more complicated than they were nearly two decades ago, with a weakened Lebanese state and changing leadership in the United States.

In 2006, after a bruising month-long war between Israel and Lebanon’s Hezbollah militant group, the United Nations Security Council unanimously voted for a resolution to end the conflict and pave the way for lasting security along the border.

But while relative calm stood for nearly two decades, Resolution 1701’s terms were never fully enforced.

Now, figuring out how to finally enforce it is key to a US-brokered deal that brought a ceasefire Wednesday.

Years of deeply divided politics and regionwide geopolitical hostilities have halted substantial progress on its implementation, yet the international community believes Resolution 1701 is still the brightest prospect for long-term stability between Israel and Lebanon.

Resolution 1701 was supposed to complete Israel’s withdrawal from southern Lebanon and ensure Hezbollah would move north of the Litani River, keeping the area exclusively under the Lebanese military and UN peacekeepers.

(FRANCE 24 with AP)


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