US President Donald Trump
US President Donald Trump said on Thursday that Israel and Lebanon have agreed to begin a ten-day ceasefire at 5 p.m. EST (2100 GMT), signaling an end to the Israeli conflict with Iran-backed Hezbollah that has raged in parallel with the war with Iran.A US official said that the ceasefire would begin on Thursday. The Israeli campaign in Lebanon has emerged as a major obstacle to reaching a peace agreement that Trump sought to end the war he launched with Israel on Iran in late February. US and Iranian officials are considering holding a second round of in-person talks in Islamabad in the coming days, and a cessation of fighting in Lebanon could pave the way for an agreement on other thorny issues, including Tehran’s nuclear ambitions.The Pakistani Foreign Ministry said earlier that peace in Lebanon is essential for the talks it is brokering.Trump said that he had excellent conversations with both Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Netanyahu said in a video statement that he agreed to a ten-day ceasefire and that there is an opportunity to conclude a historic agreement with Lebanon. But there were doubts about whether the truce could hold between arch-enemies Israel and Hezbollah.
Netanyahu said in his video message that he did not agree to Hezbollah’s request to withdraw the forces deployed in southern Lebanon to the international border between the two countries and would maintain a wide “security zone” up to the border with Syria. He added that Israel’s main demand remains the necessity of dismantling Hezbollah.In its first comment after Trump’s announcement, Hezbollah said that any ceasefire must not allow Israel freedom of movement inside Lebanon.
The group said in a statement issued by its media office that the presence of Israeli forces on Lebanese territory gives Lebanon and its people “the right to resist.”Trump said he directed US Vice President J.D. Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Dan Kaine to work with the two countries to achieve lasting peace. “Both sides want to see peace, and I believe it will happen quickly!” he said in a post on Truth Social. He also said that the leaders of the two countries could meet at the White House. Trump said: “It’s very exciting. I think we’ll reach an agreement where we’ll have a meeting, for the first time in 44 years, and Lebanon will meet with Israel, and they’ll probably do that at the White House within the next week or two.”This is a Reuters story
