The US State Department said on Monday that the ceasefire between the Zionist entity and Hezbollah is thus far “successful, broadly speaking,” adding that Washington has not “determined” if Tel Aviv violated the ceasefire.
“The ceasefire is holding,” Matthew Miller, the department’s spokesman, told reporters at the daily press briefing, after the Israeli enemy staged airstrikes on several areas across south Lebanon earlier on Monday.
The ceasefire, brokered by the United States and France, has “been successful in stopping the fighting and getting us on a path where we are not seeing the daily loss of life that we had seen for two months prior,” the spokesman added.
Miller said that violations were expected, especially in the opening weeks “when things are very fragile.”
The ceasefire agreement, which took effect on Wednesday (November 27), contains a mechanism for reporting potential violations and for the ways that Washington and Paris will respond to them, he said.
That mechanism will become more formalized in the coming days, the spokesman noted.
“When we get reports of potential violations, we have a mechanism that we put in place with the government of France to look at those potential violations, determine if they are in fact, violations, and then engage with the parties to ensure that they aren’t repeated,” Miller said.
Later on Monday, Miller said that Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Israeli Minister of Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer, and the two discussed developments in Gaza and Lebanon.
Blinken pointed to the “importance of bringing all of the hostages home and ending the war in Gaza,” while stressing the “importance” of implementing the ceasefire agreement in Lebanon.
.@SecBlinken spoke with Israeli Minister Dermer. He urged further actions to improve humanitarian conditions in Gaza and discussed the importance of bringing all the hostages home and ending the war in Gaza.
— Matthew Miller (@StateDeptSpox) December 3, 2024
Source: Agencies
