(Bloomberg) -- Israel reached a deal for a 60-day cease-fire with the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah after weeks of talks mediated by the US, a first step toward ending a conflict that’s killed thousands of people.

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President Joe Biden, who spoke after talking with the leaders of Israel and Lebanon, said at the White House Tuesday that all sides had agreed to a cease-fire that would “end the devastating conflict between Israel and Hezbollah.” More broadly, Biden said the US “remains prepared to conclude a set of historic deals with Saudi Arabia to include a security pact and economic assurance” for the region.

Earlier Tuesday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he would bring the proposed Lebanon cease-fire to a vote by his security cabinet, which gave its approval. He said Israel would now be able to focus on “the Iranian threat” and boost pressure in its war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

The truce proposal came after one of Biden’s main Middle East envoys, Amos Hochstein, shuttled between Israel and Lebanon in a bid to end the conflict before President-elect Donald Trump takes over the White House in January. Both Hezbollah and Hamas are designated terrorist organizations by the US and many other countries.

Biden and French President Emmanuel Macron issued a joint statement pledging their nations “will work with Israel and Lebanon to ensure this arrangement is fully implemented and enforced” and to prevent “another cycle of violence.”

The deal for a 60-day pause could pave the way for a more lasting cease-fire after more than a year of fighting that has destroyed the Lebanon-Israel border area and seen Israel bomb parts of Beirut, as well as other Lebanese cities.

In the hours before Biden spoke, the Israeli air force conducted some of its heaviest strikes yet on Beirut.

Talks on a longer-term cease-fire would likely be complicated. Israel wants Hezbollah to remove its fighters and weapons from the border region in southern Lebanon, with United Nations forces and the Lebanese military patrolling the area to ensure that happens.

These were the requirements of a UN resolution, known as 1701, that ended a 2006 war between the two sides. One key obstacle to a truce in this conflict has been Israel’s insistence on being able to continue striking Hezbollah positions if it thought the group was breaching the terms of any cease-fire agreement.