US President Donald Trump has announced that Israel and Lebanon have reached an agreement for a ceasefire set to commence at 7 AM AEST. This truce follows a six-week military operation by Israel against Hezbollah, which has resulted in over 2,100 fatalities, including a significant number of women and children, after Hezbollah targeted Israel in the initial phase of the ongoing conflict.<\/p>\n
In a statement made on Truth Social, President Trump mentioned having productive discussions with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Lebanese President Joseph Aoun. He noted that this meeting would mark the first direct encounter between leaders of the two nations in 34 years.<\/p>\n
“These two leaders have agreed that to foster peace between their countries, they will officially initiate a ten-day ceasefire at 5 PM EST,” Trump stated. He has tasked Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Rubio, and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Dan Razin’ Caine to collaborate with both Israel and Lebanon to pursue a sustainable peace.<\/p>\n
Israel’s military campaign against Hezbollah intensified following the group’s missile attacks during the early days of the US-Israel conflict with Iran. Despite a previous ceasefire agreement involving Israel, the US, and Iran, Israel has continued its military operations in Lebanon, targeting what it claims are Hezbollah positions.<\/p>\n
Hezbollah, which operates with Iranian support, was not involved in the ceasefire negotiations and had previously advised President Aoun against engaging with Netanyahu. Following the announcement from Trump, senior Hezbollah official Hassan Fadlallah indicated to Reuters that Iran’s ambassador to Lebanon had communicated the possibility of a one-week ceasefire beginning Thursday evening. He emphasized that Hezbollah’s commitment to the truce hinges on Israel’s adherence to a cessation of hostilities and acknowledged Iran’s role in facilitating the ceasefire discussions.<\/p>\n
Nabih Berri, the speaker of Lebanon’s Parliament and an ally of Hezbollah, advised Lebanese citizens to delay returning to their homes until conditions become clearer under the ceasefire terms. He asserted that the presence of Israeli forces in Lebanon would justify the right to resist and insisted that any ceasefire must not allow Israel unrestricted movement within Lebanese territory.<\/p>\n
In the hours leading up to the ceasefire, an Israeli airstrike in the southern town of Ghazieh resulted in the deaths of at least seven individuals and injured 33 others, according to Lebanon’s health ministry. Local media described the incident as a “massacre against civilians,” with ongoing rubble clearance operations and preliminary casualty figures still being assessed.<\/p>\n
An Israeli cabinet member reported that Netanyahu’s security cabinet convened urgently to discuss the ceasefire with Lebanon. However, an Israeli security official stated that the military did not plan to withdraw its forces from southern Lebanon during the ceasefire period.<\/p>\n
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen expressed relief at the ceasefire announcement, stating on social media that the conflict had already caused far too many casualties. Since Israel’s establishment in 1948, the two nations have technically remained in a state of war, and Lebanon continues to grapple with divisions over its diplomatic relations with Israel.<\/p>\n
As of Thursday, prior to Trump’s announcement, Israeli forces had intensified their operations in southern Lebanon, destroying the last bridge over the Litani River, part of their strategy to establish a “security zone” extending 8 to 10 kilometers into Lebanese territory.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
US President Donald Trump has announced that Israel and Lebanon have reached an agreement for a ceasefire set to commence at 7 AM AEST. This truce follows a six-week military operation by Israel against Hezbollah, which has resulted in over 2,100 fatalities, including a significant number of women and children, after Hezbollah targeted Israel in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":10422,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[43,1363,531,1460,1476,324,595],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10423","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-australia","category-au-foreign-affairs","category-au-government-and-politics","category-au-territorial-disputes","category-au-treaties","category-au-unrest-conflict-and-war","category-au-world-politics"],"yoast_head":"\n