US President Donald Trump said late Monday that Israel and Hezbollah had agreed, through intermediaries, that “all firing will cease.”
Trump’s announcement came as Iran said it was suspending talks with the United States over Israel’s continued attacks on Lebanon, which have so far killed more than 3,400 people and displaced more than 1 million.
Later on Monday, Trump told ABC News that he believed a deal with Iran to extend the ceasefire and reopen the Strait of Hormuz would be sealed “in the next week.”
Trump talked to Israel and Hezbollah
Trump said he spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and “high-ranking” Hezbollah representatives.
“I had a very productive conversation with Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu and no troops will be going to Beirut, and any troops that are on the way have already been sent back,” Trump wrote on social media.
“Similarly, through high-ranking representatives, I had a very good conversation with Hezbollah,” Trump continued, “and they agreed that all firing would cease – that Israel would not attack them, and they would not attack Israel.”
In a follow-up post a few minutes later, Trump wrote: “Negotiations with the Islamic Republic of Iran continue at a rapid pace.”
Iran suspends talks with America
Earlier on Monday, Iranian state TV quoted Iranian Revolutionary Guards as threatening to open “new fronts” and keep the Strait of Hormuz closed if Israel continued its attacks on Lebanon.
“Iran considers crossing the red lines in Lebanon and Gaza to mean direct war,” state TV quoted the Guards’ intelligence organization as saying.
Iranian state news agency Tasnim reported that “the Iranian negotiating team is suspending dialogue and exchanging texts through mediators,” blaming Israeli actions in Lebanon.
Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Iran considers Lebanon a component of the unstable ceasefire between the United States and Iran, with Iran’s chief negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf considering Israel’s escalation in Lebanon as “clear evidence of US non-compliance with the ceasefire”.
Israel and Hezbollah avoid confirming the truth
The Lebanese government announced that the Iran-backed Hezbollah terrorist group has accepted a US offer to cease attacks on Israel in exchange for Israel stopping attacks on the southern suburbs of Beirut.
A statement posted by the Lebanese Embassy in Washington
According to the statement, Trump told Maawad that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had also agreed to the proposal.
Netanyahu, meanwhile, stressed that Israeli forces “will continue to operate as planned in southern Lebanon”, without clarifying whether he agreed to the US proposal.
“I spoke to President Trump this evening and told him that if Hezbollah does not stop firing on our cities and civilians – Israel will strike terrorist targets in Beirut,” Netanyahu said in a statement on Twitter. “Our position remains unchanged,” he said.
News agency Reuters quoted Hezbollah MP Hassan Fadlallah as saying that the group would support a complete ceasefire across all of Lebanon as a condition for Israel’s withdrawal from southern Lebanon. Like Netanyahu, Fadlallah stopped short of saying whether Hezbollah would stop attacks on Israeli territory.
Fighting continues despite diplomatic efforts
Fighting between the two sides continued after Trump’s announcement, with Hezbollah claiming attacks on Israeli troops in southern Lebanon, while Israel said it intercepted two projectiles crossing from Lebanon.
The Lebanese government is preparing to resume US-brokered talks with Israel on Tuesday and Wednesday as it hopes for a more long-term ceasefire. The Lebanese Embassy in Washington said the talks were aimed “at discussing and building on this progress.”
How Lebanon became part of a broader conflict
Lebanon joined the US-Israeli war over Iran on March 2, when Hezbollah attacked Israel over the assassination of Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The attack triggered Israeli attacks across the country, leading to Israeli troops crossing into southern Lebanon, where they remain despite a ceasefire agreed in mid-April.
Over the weekend, Israeli forces captured the 900-year-old Beaufort Castle near the southern Lebanese city of Nabatieh and raised the Israeli flag there, with Netanyahu calling the capture a “dramatic turn” in the fight against Hezbollah.
Edited by: Louis Olofse
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