ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq - Iraq on Wednesday welcomed a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, saying the truce would pave the way for an end to "the violence, destruction, and suffering faced by the brotherly Lebanese people,” while calling for an end to the Gaza war.

The Iraqi government voices the significance of "intensifying international efforts to ensure avoiding a new escalation and securing a decent life for the Lebanese people,” read a statement by the Iraqi Ministry of Foreign Affairs. 

After two months of a fully-fledged war between Israel and Hezbollah, a ceasefire deal brokered by the United States and France brought the deadly conflict to a halt, an agreement aimed at facilitating the withdrawal of Israeli troops from southern Lebanon over the next two months.

More than 3,000 people were killed in over a year of fighting between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, according to the latest tally by the Lebanese Ministry.

The Lebanese army said on Wednesday that it was “taking the necessary measures” to deploy forces south after the ceasefire took effect while warning displaced people from frontline areas against returning to their regions before Israeli troops withdrew. 

The Iraqi foreign ministry reaffirmed its stance in continuing to provide "support for the Lebanese government and people and its keenness to enhance stability in the region."

Currently leading the axis of armed Iraqi resistance along with some other groups, Kataib Hezbollah, an Iran-backed faction, which has recently claimed a large number of drone attacks on Israel in response to Tel Aviv’s wars on Lebanon and Gaza, attributed the ceasefire to “the inability” of Israel and “the steadfastness” of Hezbollah.

The Israel-Hezbollah truce “would not have been possible without the steadfastness of Hezbollah’s Mujahideen, and the inability of the Zionists to achieve their goals,” Kataib said in a statement.  

In addition to nearly daily drone attacks on Israel, Iraqi political and resistance leaders on multiple occasions had shown their readiness to send fighters to Lebanon if needed, underscoring the close ties between Iraqi and Lebanese resistance groups.

Lebanese Hezbollah is a key player in the so-called Axis of Resistance, a coalition of groups and political factions backed by Iran that oppose Israeli influence and intervention in the Middle East.

Iraq has so far managed to shield itself from the conflict's direct effects, but continued attacks by pro-Iran Iraqi armed factions against Israeli targets have raised concerns of a potential Israeli retaliation. The government has said in multiple recent statements that it was working on preventing and pursuing any military activity outside the state's control.

The Iraqi foreign ministry on Saturday announced it had submitted letters to several regional and international bodies regarding Israel’s reported plans to launch attacks against Iraq, urging “concentrated” efforts to stop the Israeli aggression.

The Islamic Resistance in Iraq, an umbrella network of Iran-backed armed groups, has claimed hundreds of attacks against Israeli and American targets since October 2023 in response to the war in Gaza.

Calls for truce in Gaza

The Iraqi Foreign Ministry also called on the international community to take "serious and urgent steps to stop the ongoing massacres and attacks against the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip.”

Just hours after the Hezbollah-Israel truce took effect, Hamas said it was ready for talks on a ceasefire in Gaza, too.

"We have informed mediators in Egypt, Qatar, and Turkey that Hamas is ready for a ceasefire agreement and a serious deal to exchange prisoners,” an official from the group told AFP.

The official who hailed the truce in Lebanon accused Israel of obstructing an agreement in Gaza. 

On October 7, 2023, Palestinian Hamas launched the al-Aqsa Flood operation, an unprecedented aerial and ground attack into southern Israel that killed around 1,200 people.

In response, Israel launched a full-scale military aggression against Gaza which is still ongoing a year later. Over 44,000 Palestinians have been killed as a result of the Israeli offensive.