Israel’s cease-fire with Hezbollah terrorists took effect early Wednesday morning — 14 months after war broke out between the two sides in Lebanon.

The Jewish state’s security cabinet signed off on the US-backed agreement, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu approved the proposal Tuesday leading up to the pause in fighting that started after Hamas terrorists launched its deadly attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.

The cease-fire calls for a 60-day pause in the fighting, starting at 4 a.m. local time as both the Israel Defense Forces and Hezbollah terrorists clear out of southern Lebanon.

Celebratory gunshots were heard around Beirut early Wednesday — though neither side had reported any violations of the cease-fire.

Netanyahu said in a television address on Tuesday that he backed the deal’s approval before presenting the cease-fire to the entire cabinet in Jerusalem for its final stamp of approval.

Netanyahu said the agreement comes after Israel decimated Hezbollah’s leadership, ranks, infrastructure and hidden bunkers along the border.

The deal allows a five-nation monitoring committee, led by the US, to oversee the de-escalation and allow hundreds of thousands of displaced people in Israel and Lebanon to return to their homes after more than a year of daily missile attacks.

The cease-fire deal also includes assurances for Israel to maintain a military presence near the border and retaliate against any future Hezbollah attack.

The agreement calls on the Lebanese army to be proactive in clearing the border of the terrorist group as Hezbollah moves north of the Litani River, hindering its capabilities to conduct daily attacks on Israel.

Hezbollah officials announced last week that they approved of the US-backed deal and were waiting for Israel’s response.

However, Mahmoud Qamati, deputy chair of Hezbollah’s political council, said the militant group has not yet seen the ceasefire agreement in its final form.

“We want an end to the aggression, of course,” he said — while warning: “Any violation of sovereignty is refused.”

The full terms of the deal have yet to be released, and it remains unclear when exactly it will go into effect. 

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the end of the fighting in Lebanon would be key to also ending the war in Gaza. 

“One of the things that Hamas has sought from day one is to get others in on the fight, to create multiple fronts… and as long as it thought that was possible, that’s one of the reasons it has held back from doing what is necessary to end the conflict,” Blinken said at Tuesday’s G7 meeting in Italy.” 

“If it sees that the cavalry is not on the way, that may incentivize it to do what it needs to do to end this conflict.”

Early Wednesday, a senior Hamas official claimed in a statement to the AFP that the terrorist group was “ready” for a cease-fire with Israel, citing the Hezbollah agreement.

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

Israel had not immediately responded to the Hamas official’s claims. But past potential cease-fire deals between the two sides have fallen apart, including one in May in which the terrorist group reportedly agreed to a “softened” version of what had been proposed.

Hezbollah began attacking Israel a day after Hamas’ deadly assault of the Jewish state, which launched a military campaign in Gaza.

Hours before Netanyahu announced the cease-fire agreement, Hezbollah and Israel traded fire across the border, with the IDF hitting more than 180 targets in southern Lebanon. 

The IDF touted that the airstrikes hit command centers, weapon depots, and other Hezbollah infrastructure in Beirut and other parts of southern Lebanon.

Hezbollah, meanwhile, fired dozens of rockets at Western Galilee and northern Israel, with additional drone alerts triggered as far south as Haifa. 

The fighting has left more than 3,500 dead in Lebanon, according to the country’s ministry of health, which does not differentiate between terrorists and civilians.

In Israel, more than 72 people have been killed by Hezbollah’s attacks, including 30 IDF soldiers and reservists.  

With Post wires