By Owen Evans
Contributing Writer
U.S. President Donald Trump said Israel and Lebanon have agreed to begin a 10-day ceasefire.
In a Thursday post on Truth Social, Trump said he had “excellent conversations” with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, adding that the two sides agreed to formally begin a ceasefire at 5 p.m. ET on Thursday.
He said the agreement followed rare talks between the two countries in Washington, hosted by U.S. 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,” he wrote. “It has been my honor to solve nine wars across the world, and this will be my 10th, so let’s GET IT DONE.”
Trump had said he was pushing for “breathing room” amid parallel U.S. efforts to reach a diplomatic settlement to the Iran war.
“It has been a long time since the two leaders have spoken, like 34 years. It will happen tomorrow. Nice!” Trump wrote in a Thursday Truth Social post.
Before the announcement, the Lebanese presidency said in a statement that Aoun thanked Trump for his efforts to reach a ceasefire and restore stability, urging continued U.S. engagement to end the fighting as soon as possible.
In a Thursday post on X, the Lebanese presidency said that a phone call took place that afternoon between Trump and Aoun.
“During the call, President Aoun renewed his thanks for the efforts Trump is exerting to reach a ceasefire in Lebanon and secure lasting peace and stability, paving the way for achieving the peace process in the region,” it said.
In a Wednesday post on X, the U.S. Embassy in Beirut said that U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Michel Issa met with Trump and Rubio on Wednesday.
“They affirmed their commitment to ongoing talks and the embassy’s efforts in Beirut to support the restoration of Lebanon’s monopoly of force and sovereignty,” it said.
The discussions come as Israel is already in the midst of operations beyond Iran. Trump announced a two-week ceasefire in the six-week Iran war on April 7.
On April 8, the Israel Defense Forces carried out its largest coordinated strike in Lebanon, targeting more than 100 command centers and military sites of the Hezbollah terrorist group in Beirut, the Beqaa Valley and southern Lebanon.
On Thursday, an Israeli strike severed the last bridge linking southern Lebanon to the rest of the country, a senior Lebanese security official told Reuters, adding that the strike “shattered” the bridge and left no possibility of repairing it.
In a Thursday post on Telegram, Iranian state news outlet INRA reported that the speaker of the Iranian Parliament said that a Lebanon ceasefire was crucial.
In a phone call with the speaker of the parliament of Lebanon, Nabih Berri, on Thursday, Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said that “a ceasefire in Lebanon is as significant to [Iran] as a ceasefire in Iran.”
Senior Israeli officials said that the ceasefire would follow the same framework as the ceasefire with Hezbollah from November 2024. Specifically, Israeli forces will remain on the lines they have reached in Lebanon and will not withdraw, while retaining the right to self-defense against Hezbollah attacks and to thwart emerging threats.
According to a 2024 Congress report, Hezbollah is an Iran-backed U.S.-designated foreign terrorist organization operating in Lebanon.
It states that Hezbollah is a partner force of the Iranian regime, helping Tehran “project power across the region, train allied militias (reportedly including Hamas), threatening U.S. interests and allies across the region.”
It also states that Hezbollah has used Israel’s presence in the Shebaa Farms and other disputed areas in the Lebanon-Syria-Israel tri-border region to justify ongoing violence against Israel.
