As a ceasefire the U.S. helped broker between Israel and the Iran-backed group Hezbollah came into effect Wednesday, President Biden said his administration would quickly launch “another push” with international partners to secure a deal to end the even deadlier war in the Gaza Strip. Mr. Biden, who has less than two months left in office, said in a social media post Wednesday morning that his administration would work in the coming days with Israel and other partners in the region to “achieve a ceasefire in Gaza with the [Israeli] hostages released and an end to the war without Hamas in power.”

The truce that the United States and France helped achieve to halt combat between the Lebanese militant organization Hezbollah and Israel looked to be holding Wednesday, hours after it went into force. However, the head of Lebanon’s national journalists syndicate claimed, unverified, that Israeli forces in or near the southern city of Khiam opened fire “at a group of journalists and correspondents” there, allegedly leaving two with unspecified injuries — one with The Associated Press and one with the Russian agency Sputnik.

Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency quoted the syndicate’s leader, Joseph Al-Qasifi, as saying it was “the first violation of the ceasefire.” A spokeswoman for The Associated Press told CBS News the agency was “grateful our freelancer is OK,” implying that any injuries sustained were minor, but adding: “Journalists must be able to operate safely in Lebanon as they cover this conflict.” The Israel Defence Forces did not immediately respond to CBS News’ request for comment on the event, but in a terse statement, the IDF stated forces had questioned four “suspects [who] approached IDF soldiers stationed in southern Lebanon” on Wednesday. There were no other details, and it was unclear whether the incident was linked to the suspected shooting in Khiam.

The battle in Lebanon simmered for months after Hezbollah began launching rockets at northern Israel in favour of its ideological partners Hamas, the day after Hamas carried out their terrorist strike in Israel on October 7, 2023, triggering the Gaza battle. In that attack, Hamas and its allies killed over 1,200 people in Israel and kidnapped 250 more.

The near-constant fire of rockets and missiles across the Israel-Lebanon border rose substantially in September, with Lebanese officials reporting that approximately 3,800 people had been murdered by the time the truce went into force Wednesday morning. According to Israeli authorities, Hezbollah’s missile strikes have killed 45 civilians over the last year, and at least 73 Israeli soldiers have died in southern Lebanon operations.

The truce that the United States and France helped achieve to halt combat between the Lebanese militant organization Hezbollah and Israel looked to be holding Wednesday, hours after it went into force. However, the head of Lebanon’s national journalists syndicate claimed, unverified, that Israeli forces in or near the southern city of Khiam opened fire “at a group of journalists and correspondents” there, allegedly leaving two with unspecified injuries — one with The Associated Press and one with the Russian agency Sputnik.

Thousands of Lebanese civilians packed their belongings back into cars and crammed onto highways to try to return to their homes in the south on Wednesday, despite a lack of trust and warnings from Israeli and Lebanese officials not to return to areas evacuated during Israel’s offensive since October. Some 2 million Palestinians in Gaza will be expecting to begin mending their damaged lives in the coming weeks. The relatives of the around 100 Israeli captives currently being held in the Gaza Strip will be hoping that the fresh effort for a truce with Hamas would also bring their loved ones home.