CBS’ Chief Foreign Affairs Correspondent on Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire deal

WASHINGTON (CBS, KYMA/KECY) - Israel and Lebanon's Hezbollah have reached a ceasefire deal that went into effect Wednesday and Margaret Brennan, Face the Nation moderator and CBS' Chief Foreign Affairs Correspondent, has provided an analysis on the deal.

The deal was brokered by the United States before Thanksgiving. When asked why the urgency, Brennan said the Biden administration's top Middle East advisers "have been pressing for months to get this done" as the United States assessed that the time was right for two reasons.

One of the reasons Brennan mentioned was that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu "did not want to maintain the risk of a long military occupation of southern Lebanon," which, according to the United Nations, had displaced an estimated 1.2 million people.

Another reason Brennan mentioned was that Netanyahu was also "under domestic political pressure to help the 70,000 to 80,000 Israelis get back to their homes in the north of the country. They've been displaced. So, that helps. Plus, now Israel can point to the fact that have dramatically weakened both Hezbollah and their Iranian sponsors behind them."

Netanyahu and the Biden administration had informed President-Elect Donald Trump and his team about the deal since the election. When asked how the Trump team viewed this, Brennan said the ceasefire "takes a big item off the to-do list" for the president-elect and the Israeli governement "really wanted this."

"For President Biden, it also, on his way out, hands him a much needed diplomatic win when the rest of his [policies in the Middle East], such as trying to get a ceasefire in Gaza has failed," Brennan remarked.

For more on Brennan's break down of the deal, click here.