A ceasefire deal that could end more than a year of cross-border fighting between Israel and Lebanon's Hezbollah militant group won backing from Israeli leaders Tuesday, raising hopes and renewing difficult questions in a region gripped by conflict.

A ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah has come into effect in Lebanon after more than a year of fighting. It began at 04:00 local time (02:00 GMT) on Wednesday, putting an at-least temporary end to nearly 14 months of conflict between Israel and the Iran-backed militant group.

Israel will gradually withdraw its forces over 60 days as Lebanon's army takes control of territory near its border with Israel to ensure that Hezbollah does not rebuild its infrastructure there.