Trump announces 10-day cease-fire in Lebanon starting midnight Beirut time
Following 46 days of war and over 2,200 people killed by Israel, world leaders welcome Lebanon cease-fire, Israeli MPs express anger, and Hezbollah vows to respect truce so long as Israel ceases its attacks.
by L'Orient Today staff/AFP · L'Orient TodayBEIRUT — U.S. President Donald Trump announced that Israel and Lebanon had agreed to a "cease-fire" Thursday, and said he was trying to set up the first-ever meeting between the leaders of the two countries.
Following what he called "excellent" phone calls with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Lebanese President Joseph Aoun, Trump said the truce would begin within hours.
"These two Leaders have agreed that in order to achieve PEACE between their Countries, they will formally begin a 10 Day CEASEFIRE at 5 P.M. EST," or 9 pm GMT, Trump said on his Truth Social network.
The U.S. leader said he had directed Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and top U.S. military officer Dan Caine to work with the two countries "to achieve a Lasting PEACE."
Shortly afterward, Trump added that "I will be inviting the Prime Minister of Israel, Bibi Netanyahu, and the President of Lebanon, Joseph Aoun, to the White House."
Nearly 2,200 people killed in Lebanon
The truce announcement comes amid continuing efforts to reach a deal to end the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran which was launched on Feb. 28. On March 2, after Hezbollah fired rockets across the border into Israel, causing no casualties, Israel launched sweeping strikes on Lebanon, renewing its full-blown war on the country after fifteen months of a precarious cease-fire in which daily Israeli strikes had continued regardless.
Since the cease-fire reached between Tehran and Washington, Iran has insisted that a cease-fire in Lebanon must be part of any lasting agreement.
Israel has killed nearly 2,200 people and displaced more than one million people in Lebanon since , and Israeli ground forces have invaded the country's south.
Aoun rejects U.S. request for direct phone call with Netanyahu
The first signs of movement on Lebanon came when Trump said late Wednesday that Aoun and Netanyahu were due to speak on Thursday.
"Trying to get a little breathing room between Israel and Lebanon," Trump said Wednesday on his Truth Social platform, referring to the two countries' ambassadors meeting held in Washington the day before — the first meeting of its kind since 1993.
But Aoun rejected the U.S. request for a direct phone call with Netanyahu on Thursday, an official source told AFP.
Instead, Aoun's office confirmed a call during which he thanked the U.S. leader for his "efforts" to secure a cease-fire with Israel.
Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam welcomed Trump's announcement of a cease-fire, saying a truce was a "key Lebanese demand that we have pursued since the very first day of the war" between Hezbollah and Israel. He also thanked European and Arab states for their involvement.
European Commission president Ursula Von Der Leyen hailed the cease-fire as "a relief."
But fighting on the ground continued right up until Trump's announcement.
The Lebanese Army said Thursday that Israeli strikes that destroyed the Qasmieh bridge over the southern Litani River had cut off the area from the rest of the country.
The Israeli army on Thursday again ordered civilians to evacuate the entire area of southern Lebanon up to the Zahrani River, about 40 kilometers north of the border.
Meanwhile, Lebanon's state-run National News Agency (NNA) reported clashes in Bint Jbeil, a town five kilometers from the border where Hezbollah fighters are battling Israeli troops.
The White House has said it is discussing a possible second round of talks with Iran in the Pakistani capital Islamabad, after a first round last weekend failed to produce a deal.
But a senior U.S. administration official stressed that any end to the hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon was not part of talks between Washington and Tehran.
Hezbollah to respect cease-fire provided Israel stops attacks
Hezbollah MP Ibrahim al-Moussawi told AFP on Thursday that the party would respect the cease-fire provided Israeli attacks against them stopped.
"We in Hezbollah will cautiously adhere to the cease-fire on the condition that it is a comprehensive halt to hostilities against us and that Israel not use it to carry out any assassinations," he said.
"We express thanks to Iran for having applied pressure in Lebanon's favour," he said, adding that "the cease-fire would not have happened without Iran considering the cease-fire as equal to closing the Strait of Hormuz," he added.
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