President Joe Biden announced Tuesday that Israel and Hezbollah had agreed to a U.S.-brokered ceasefire in Lebanon.

Last year’s escalated tensions and back-and-forth strikes have not only increased the risk of a regional war, but also left thousands of people dead and more than a million displaced.

Under the agreement, which is set to take effect at 4 a.m. local time on Wednesday, fighting will end on the Israel-Lebanese border, Biden said in describing the ceasefire, which he said was “designed for a permanent cessation of hostilities.” . “

Biden said the U.S. and its partners, including France, “will ensure that this agreement is fully implemented.”

“Let me be clear: If Hezbollah or anyone else violates the agreement and poses a direct threat to Israel, Israel retains the right to self-defense in accordance with international law,” the president said at the White House.

He stressed that the agreement is in Lebanon’s best interests and supports its sovereignty, adding that its people, like the people of Gaza, deserve an end to violence and displacement.

“The people of Gaza have been through hell. Their world is absolutely destroyed,” Biden said, adding that Hamas’s only way out of the war with Israel was to release the hostages.

He said the deal between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah militia “reminds us that peace is possible.”

Shortly after the president’s announcement, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement that his Cabinet had approved the U.S.-brokered deal, 10 ministers to one.

“Israel values ​​the U.S. contribution to this process and reserves the right to act against any threat to its security,” Netanyahu said.

Earlier Tuesday, Netanyahu said he had recommended his Cabinet approve the deal with Hezbollah, which began a firefight with Israel a day after the Hamas terror attack on Oct. 7, 2023.

Hezbollah says it supports Palestinian resistance; Israel sees this as another attempt by Tehran to attack the Jewish state.

Netanyahu and other Israeli leaders have vowed not to stop their attacks on Hezbollah until the 60,000 northern Israel residents forced from their homes can safely return. Since October 7, 2023, around 90 Israeli soldiers and 50 Israeli civilians have been killed.

According to the Lebanese Health Ministry, more than 3,820 people have been killed by Israeli bombings since fighting began in Lebanon. This campaign has displaced approximately 1.2 million people and created a humanitarian crisis.

In this multi-front war in the Middle East, the Lebanon conflict has become a central focus for Israel in recent months. This is due in part to Hezbollah’s powerful missile arsenal, larger than any other non-state group in the world and believed to be capable of overwhelming Israel’s missile defenses.