'May it be Gaza next': John Swinney and Humza Yousaf call for Israel to extend ceasefire

US President Joe Biden on Tuesday night announced a ceasefire deal had been signed to end more than a year of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah.

Some Lebanese civilians have already started to return to their homes in southern Lebanon, despite Israel warning it is still not safe to return to certain areas. The ceasefire appeared to be holding on Wednesday.

Mr Swinney welcomed the ceasefire, but said it must now be extended into Gaza - where Israeli strikes overnight on two schools-turned-shelters in Gaza City killed 11 people.

Posting on X, Mr Swinney said: “The ceasefire agreement reached between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon is evidence that peace in the Middle East is possible. Efforts must now be concentrated on a ceasefire in Gaza to bring an end to the widescale death and suffering of innocent civilians.”

His predecessor Humza Yousaf also called for the ceasefire to be extended into Gaza. Posting on X, the former first minister said: “Good. May it be Gaza next, and soon. Fourteen months of complete hell must stop now.”

However, the ceasefire in Lebanon does not extend to Gaza, and does not affect the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas.

The announcement came from Mr Biden, with a joint statement from the US and France saying the agreement would “secure Israel from the threat of Hezbollah and other terrorist organisations”.

The deal means Hezbollah and Israel now have 60 days to remove its fighters and weapons from the region, stretching from the unofficial border between Lebanon and Israel known as the Blue Line and the Litani River.

The Lebanese Army is also expected to deploy 5,000 troops to the south under the agreement to replace Hezbollah.

However, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel would “maintain full freedom of military action” in Lebanon “with the United States’ full understanding”.

On Tuesday night, he said: “If Hezbollah violates the agreement and tries to arm itself, we will attack. If it tries to rebuild terrorist infrastructure near the border, we will attack.

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“If it launches a rocket, if it digs a tunnel, if it brings in a truck carrying rockets, we will attack.”

Both the US and France will join Unifil [the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon], Lebanon and Israel in monitoring any violations in the ceasefire.

Cross-border fire continued right up until the ceasefire, which came into effect at 4am local time (2am GMT) on Wednesday morning.

Hezbollah, backed by Iran, launched drones towards Israel on Tuesday night, and Israel launched air strikes on Beirut after its military issued evacuation orders.

The fighting between Israel and Hezbollah ramped up two months ago after Israeli troops began a land invasion of Lebanon after almost a year of rocket attacks from Hezbollah.

The truce in Lebanon could give some reprieve to the 1.2 million Lebanese displaced by the fighting and the tens of thousands of Israelis who fled their homes along the border.