Israel, Lebanon agree to 10-day cease-fire

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April 16 (UPI) -- President Donald Trump announced that Israel and Lebanon agreed to a 10-day cease-fire starting at 5 p.m. EDT Thursday, pausing Israel's six-week war on Hezbollah.

Trump spoke with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday. Both leaders confirmed the cease-fire and agreed to work toward a more permanent peace between their countries.

Trump spoke to the two leaders separately because Aoun declined to participate in a call with the Israeli leader because Israel was still bombing Lebanon, CNN reported.

"These two Leaders have agreed that in order to achieve PEACE between their Countries, they will formally begin a 10 Day CEASEFIRE," he said in a post on Truth Social.

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Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Dan Caine have been directed to work with officials of both countries to achieve a more lasting peace.

Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, in a social media statement, thanked the United States, France, the European Union, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Qatar and Jordan for helping to accomplish the cease-fire he had pursued "since the first day of the war."

After the United States and Israel launched the Iran war, Israel also launched offensives against the Iran-backed militia Hezbollah in Lebanon, from which it often launches attacks on Israel.

This week, delegates from the neighboring countries conducted diplomatic talks for the first time since 1993, meeting in Washington, D.C., to discuss a cease-fire and the larger issue of Hezbollah's hijacking of Lebanese lands in order to target Israel.

Netanyahu said Thursday in a video statement that Israeli forces would in a "reinforced security buffer zone" that will start at the sea and continue into Lebanon and up to the Syrian border.

"This is a security strip 10 kilometers deep, which is much stronger, more intense, more continuous and more solid than what we had previously," he said.

Calling the negotiations potentially historic, Netanyahu said that Israel's chief goal is to disarm Hezbollah and its ability to invade or launch weapons across the Lebanese border into Israel.

"That is where we will remain," he said. "We are not leaving."

After the diplomatic talks on Wednesday, Rubio reinforced that a key part of the meeting and now peace talks between the two nations is to end Hezbollah's destabilizing influence in Lebanon and the wider Middle East.

"We have to remember the Lebanese people are victims of Hezbollah," Rubio said, also noting that accomplishing a lasting peace "will take time."

Lebanese Member of Parliament Fouad Makhzoumi said the next phase "requires decisive steps," including restricting weapons to the authority of the Lebanese state and the implementation of international resolutions, including Israel's withdrawal from the country.

Following the announcement, celebratory gunfire was reported in Lebanon, prompting the Lebanese Army to call on the public to cease fire.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres issued a statement welcoming the cease-fire, commending the United States in its role facilitating it and expressing hope that it will "pave the way for negotiations towards a long-term solution."

"I urge everyone to fully respect the cease-fire and to comply with international laws at all times," he said.

Numerous countries followed with statements welcoming the cease-fire and urging that it hold and for the yearslong conflict to come too an end, including European Union Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who called it "a relief."

"This conflict has already claimed far too many lives," she said online. "Now, we need not just a temporary pause, but a path to permanent peace."

Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand of Canada called the cease-fire "an important step" while demanding that Hezbollah disarm.

On his Truth Social platform late Thursday, Trump addressed the Iran-backed militia.

"I hope Hezbollah acts nicely and well during this important period of time," he said.

"It will be an GREAT moment for them if they do. No more killing. Must finally have PEACE!"

Within hours of the announcement, the Lebanese Army also ordered residents of southern Lebanese villages to refrain from moving back to their homes, saying Israel has continued to launch attacks, committing "a number of violations of the agreement."

This week in Washington

Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. speaks during a House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies hearing on the budget for the Department of Health and Human Services in the Rayburn House Office Building near the U.S. Capitol on Thursday. Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI | License Photo