Trump announces ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon

New York: US President Donald Trump on Thursday announced a ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon aimed at bringing a temporary cooling-off along another front linked to the Iran conflict.

He said that after speaking with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Lebanon’s President Joseph Aoun, the two sides agreed to a 10-day ceasefire beginning at 5 p.m. Washington time (2.30 a.m. Friday in India).

The ceasefire is expected to pause hostilities that escalated when Israel opened a new front targeting Iran-affiliated Hezbollah.

Lebanon is not directly engaged in a formal war with Israel, but Hezbollah controls large parts of southern Lebanon and has carried out attacks on Israel, prompting retaliatory strikes.

Unable to rein in Hezbollah, Lebanon has borne the brunt of Israeli retaliation.

The durability of the ceasefire is likely to depend on Hezbollah refraining from further attacks.

While Hezbollah is not formally part of the agreement, media reports indicated that the group may halt attacks if Israel also exercises restraint.

Meanwhile, Iran’s Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf endorsed the ceasefire, stating in a social media post: “For us, a ceasefire in Lebanon is just as important as a ceasefire in Iran.”

Hezbollah had intensified its attacks on Israel following the escalation of the Iran conflict.

The ceasefire follows a meeting between the ambassadors of Israel and Lebanon in Washington on Tuesday, facilitated by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

This marked the first direct diplomatic engagement between the two sides since the 1980s, when Israel launched a large-scale invasion of Lebanon.

Earlier, when a 14-day ceasefire between Iran and the US was announced on April 7, there was confusion over whether it included Lebanon.

Pakistan had indicated that it did, but both the US and Israel clarified that Lebanon was not part of that arrangement.

Trump said on Truth Social that he has asked “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 also said he would invite Netanyahu and Aoun to the White House to discuss a longer-term peace framework.

According to Lebanese authorities, more than 2,000 people have been killed and over a million displaced during Israeli strikes targeting Hezbollah positions.

The attacks have extended into the capital, Beirut.

There are 642 Indian personnel serving in the UN peacekeeping force deployed in southern Lebanon along the border with Israel.

UN peacekeepers operating in the region have come under fire from both sides during the conflict.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres welcomed the ceasefire, his spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said.

“The United Nations, through its political and peacekeeping missions, remains ready to support these efforts,” he said.

The UN has urged both sides to work “towards a permanent ceasefire and a long-term solution to the conflict”, he added.

IANS