• US insists Beirut must ensure no attacks on Tel Aviv
• Trump says he will invite Netanyahu, Aoun to White House for 1st talks between both sides since 1983
• Hezbollah warns truce must not allow Israel freedom of movement in Lebanon
WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump announced on Thursday that Lebanon and Israel had agreed on a 10-day ceasefire.
The US State Department later said that the ceasefire would begin at 5pm EST (2100 GMT) to enable negotiations toward a permanent security and peace agreement, adding that the period of truce may be extended by mutual agreement.
Israel has been carrying out deadly attacks in Lebanon against the backdrop of a now-paused US-Israeli war on Iran. The war spilled into Lebanon on March 2, with an attack by Hezbollah against Israel.
Israeli attacks have killed more than 2,100 people in Lebanon since and forced more than 1.2 million to flee, Lebanese authorities say. Israel says Hezbollah attacks have killed two Israeli civilians, while 13 Israeli soldiers have died in Lebanon since March 2.
“Once the ceasefire takes effect, the Lebanese government will take steps to prevent Hezbollah and all other non-state armed groups in its territory from carrying out any attacks, operations, or hostile activities against Israel, the US State Department said in a statement whose text Washington said was agreed to by Israel and Lebanon.
“All parties recognise Lebanon’s security forces as having exclusive responsibility for Lebanon’s sovereignty and national defense; no other country or group has claim to be the guarantor of Lebanon’s sovereignty,” the statement read.
Trump announced the agreement between the two sides on a ceasefire in a Truth Social post, saying that he had “excellent conversations” with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“These two Leaders have agreed that in order to achieve PEACE between their Countries, they will formally begin a 10 Day CEASEFIRE at 5 PM EST,” Trump announced.
Referring to the talks held between the two sides in Washington, he said the two “countries met for the first time in 34 years here in Washington, DC, with our Great Secretary of State, Marco Rubio”.
“I have directed Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Rubio, together with the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Dan Razin’ Caine, to work with Israel and Lebanon to achieve a Lasting PEACE. It has been my Honor to solve nine Wars across the World, and this will be my 10th, so let’s, GET IT DONE!” he added.
‘Meaningful talks’
In a subsequent post, he said he would invite Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Lebanese President Joseph Aoun to the White House for the “first meaningful talks” between the two countries since 1983. “Both sides want to see peace, and I believe that will happen, quickly!” Trump said.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen welcomed the ceasefire announcement, saying on X: “This is a relief, as this conflict has already claimed far too many lives.”
European Council President Antonio Costa also welcomed the ceasefire, and urged that the agreement be implemented and verified on the ground.
“The EU will continue to support Lebanon,” Costa said in a post on X.
Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu said that the 10-day ceasefire with Lebanon offered an opportunity for a “historic peace agreement” with Beirut, but insisted that the disarmament of militant group Hezbollah remained a precondition.
“We have an opportunity to make a historic peace agreement with Lebanon,” Netanyahu said in a televised speech.
Before Trump’s announcement, Aoun urged the US president to help secure a ceasefire for his country in the first call ever between the two leaders.
Israel and the US have claimed the campaign against Hezbollah was not part of that two-week ceasefire, though Pakistan’s prime minister had said in his announcement that the truce would include Lebanon, as demanded by Iran.
Aoun’s office said he spoke to Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio separately on Thursday afternoon and thanked them for their efforts to reach a ceasefire in Lebanon.
In a Truth Social post published late on Wednesday in Washington, Trump had said he was seeking to create “a little breathing room” between Israel and Lebanon.
Aoun had said early in the war he would be open to direct talks but Lebanon’s position was that a ceasefire should precede negotiations.
Hezbollah said that the presence of Israeli troops on Lebanese territory would grant Lebanon and its people “the right to resist”, adding in its first comment on a proposed truce that any ceasefire must not allow Israel freedom of movement within Lebanon.
It has also called on Lebanese residents to postpone their return to the country’s south, the Bekaa valley, and Beirut’s southern suburbs, ahead of the ceasefire.
Meanwhile, an Israeli strike on the southern Lebanese town of Ghazieh has killed at least seven people and wounded 33, said Beirut’s health ministry.
Lebanon’s National News Agency reported that an Israeli drone strike has hit a car on the road to the town of Zifta in the Nabatieh district, killing two people. Local sources said the vehicle was directly targeted.
The Israeli army said it was striking rocket launchers belonging to Hezbollah after claims of cross-border rocket fire into northern Israel.
Published in Dawn, April 17th, 2026