A 60-day ceasefire between Israel and the militant group Hezbollah has taken effect in southern Lebanon. The deal was brokered by the U.S. and France. Locals on the two sides of the conflict shared both their hope and skepticism that it will last.
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00:00An Israeli airstrike hits a building in central Beirut, one of the last in a streak of attacks
00:08just hours before a U.S.-brokered ceasefire took effect between Israel and the militant
00:14group Hezbollah.
00:15We just spoke with the prime minister of Israel and Lebanon.
00:19I'm pleased to announce that their governments have accepted the United States' proposal
00:23to end the devastating conflict between Israel and Hezbollah.
00:29The 60-day ceasefire would see Israel withdraw from southern Lebanon, which will be brought
00:34under control by the Lebanese military rather than Hezbollah fighters.
00:41Lebanon has been seeing its deadliest fighting in decades, resulting in more than 3,000 Lebanese
00:46killed and more than a million displaced.
00:49In Israel, more than 60,000 people living near the Lebanon border have also been displaced.
00:55Israel says the ceasefire will allow them to return home, and with Hezbollah badly damaged,
01:00refocus the country's war efforts on Hamas in Gaza, where more than a hundred Israeli
01:05hostages remain captive after over a year.
01:08We will end the Hamas crisis, we will withdraw all our hostages, we will ensure that Gaza
01:14will not pose a threat to Israel, and we will return the residents of the north safely to
01:20their homes.
01:24The news of the ceasefire was met with cheers in some parts of Lebanon, even as strikes
01:29continued overnight.
01:34Many in Lebanon remain skeptical.
01:36If it stops, no one will return home until a decision is made by the resistance.
01:42I don't know what we will do.
01:43No one will listen to the enemy.
01:44Maybe we will go back to our homes, and they will do what they want with us, and then the
01:49war will stop.
01:50We will not give up.
01:51We will be honest with the ceasefire, because every day we have an opinion.
01:55Reactions in Israel are also mixed.
01:57I am very happy, ceasefire is always good, but I will be more happy if it will be in
02:06Gaza too.
02:07Honestly, my take is that it makes us look a bit weak.
02:11There's something to getting over there and destroying all the terrorist infrastructure,
02:16and just finishing the job in some sense.
02:19It took more than a year to bring the hostages home with the hostage deal, and the only way
02:25to do it is with a ceasefire in Gaza as well, not just in the north.
02:33With the ceasefire officially in place, people in the region and across the world are watching
02:38to see if it will hold.
02:40Luffy Lee and Chris Gorin for Taiwan Plus.