Rabat – Israel and Lebanon have agreed to a 10-day ceasefire beginning on Thursday, US President Donald Trump said, after six weeks of fighting.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed Israel’s participation but said troops would remain in a 10-km “security zone” in southern Lebanon.
“We are there, and we are not leaving,” Netanyahu said.
Hezbollah, the Iran-backed armed group, signaled conditional acceptance of the truce, saying it must be “a comprehensive halt to attacks” across Lebanon and “no freedom of movement for Israeli forces.”
Iran’s foreign ministry welcomed the ceasefire. Tehran had previously insisted its own two-week ceasefire with the US should include Lebanon, a condition rejected by Washington and Israel.
Speaking to reporters in Washington, Trump said the US and Iran had already reached an agreement on several issues, including that Tehran would not have nuclear weapons “beyond 20 years,” but warned that “if there is no deal, fighting resumes.”
The latest conflict began on March 2, two days after the US and Israel launched joint strikes in Iran. Hezbollah said it responded by firing rockets into northern Israel, describing its action as retaliation for the assassination of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
More than 2,000 people have been killed in Lebanon since the fighting began, according to Lebanese authorities, with over one million people displaced from their homes. About 37,000 homes have been destroyed or damaged.
Israeli authorities said Hezbollah attacks have killed two civilians in Israel and 13 Israeli soldiers in combat in Lebanon.
Israel and Lebanon held rare direct talks in Washington this week aimed at easing the conflict, which has included air strikes on parts of the Lebanese capital, Beirut. Israel is not in conflict with Lebanon’s armed forces.
Announcing the ceasefire on Truth Social, Trump said he would invite Netanyahu and Lebanese President Joseph Aoun to the White House “for the first meaningful talks between Israel and Lebanon since 1983,” during the Lebanese Civil War.
“I think we will have an agreement between Lebanon, and they’re going to take care of Hezbollah, but they’re going to be working on Hezbollah right now,” Trump told BBC reporters later.
“But we’ll have an agreement between Israel, very importantly, and Lebanon,” the US president added.
Trump said he expected both leaders to travel to Washington “over the next week or two.”
The US State Department said the ceasefire “may be extended by mutual agreement” if progress is made in negotiations and reiterated that Israel retains the right to act in self-defense against “planned, imminent, or ongoing attacks.”
It added that Lebanon’s security forces would have “exclusive responsibility” for the country’s security.
In the hours before the ceasefire was due to begin, both Israel and Hezbollah continued cross-border strikes.
Key issues remain unresolved, including the future of Hezbollah’s weapons. Lebanese officials have long argued that disarming the group would require negotiations rather than force.
Netanyahu described the ceasefire as an “opportunity to make a historic peace agreement,” but said Israeli forces must remain in southern Lebanon to “block the danger of invasion.”
He added that disarming Hezbollah would be a central demand in future talks with the Lebanese government.
The US State Department said Lebanon had committed to taking “meaningful steps to prevent Hezbollah and all other rogue non-state armed groups” from carrying out attacks on Israel.
Netanyahu said Hezbollah had demanded a full Israeli withdrawal and a “quiet for quiet” arrangement. “I agree to neither the former nor the latter,” he said.
Lebanon’s health ministry said at least 2,196 people have been killed in Israeli attacks, including 260 women and 172 children, though the figures do not distinguish between civilians and fighters.
On Thursday, Israel destroyed the last bridge linking southern Lebanon to the rest of the country, further isolating the region and raising fears of a prolonged occupation. Israeli officials have previously said they intended to retain security control over the area beyond the current conflict.
