US President Donald Trump has announced that Israel and Lebanon have agreed to a 10-day ceasefire, saying the truce is expected to begin within six hours.
The announcement comes amid continuing tensions after Hezbollah militants operating from Lebanon, described as Iran-backed, carried out attacks against Israel, prompting strong Israeli retaliatory strikes on Lebanon.
According to the report, the United States pushed for direct engagement between the two sides. A first high-level direct meeting between Israeli and Lebanese envoys was held in Washington under US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, marking the first direct talks between the countries since 1993.
Trump said he held what he described as a “good conversation” with Lebanon’s President Joseph Aoun and Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and that both leaders agreed to the temporary ceasefire in the interest of restoring calm.
He also said he had instructed Vice President Vance, Secretary of State Rubio and US military leadership to work with both countries toward peace, and claimed the ceasefire as his “10th” such effort to stop a war.
