Israel and Lebanon have announced a 10-day ceasefire, intended to facilitate negotiations for a more enduring security and peace agreement. The truce, declared by United States President Donald Trump on Thursday, became effective at 21:00 GMT.<\/p>\n
This ceasefire follows six weeks of intense fighting between Israel and the Iran-backed Lebanese group, Hezbollah. During its military operations in Lebanon, Israel has reportedly caused the deaths of at least 2,196 people and displaced over one million. However, on Friday morning, Lebanon\u2019s army reported several violations of the ceasefire by Israeli forces.<\/p>\n
Will the ceasefire last? What are its terms? Here\u2019s what we know:<\/b><\/p>\nWhat Are the Terms of the Ceasefire?<\/h3>\n
Announcing the ceasefire, President Trump hailed it as a \u201chistoric day,\u201d further stating on Truth Social, \u201cMay have been a historic day for Lebanon. Good things are happening.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to a statement from the US State Department, the agreement allows Israel to \u201cpreserve its right to take all necessary measures in self-defence,\u201d while refraining from \u201cany offensive military operations.\u201d The statement clarified that Israel could exercise this right \u201cat any time, against planned, imminent, or ongoing attacks,\u201d and that this would \u201cnot be impeded by the cessation of hostilities.\u201d<\/p>\n
Trump confirmed that the 10-day truce includes Hezbollah, expressing hope that the group would \u201cact nicely and well during this important period of time.\u201d He added, \u201cNo more killing. Must finally have PEACE!\u201d<\/p>\n
Hezbollah was not directly involved in the negotiations between Israeli and Lebanese officials in Washington on Tuesday and had opposed the ceasefire talks.<\/p>\n
On Thursday, Ali Fayyad, a Hezbollah politician, informed Al Jazeera Arabic that the group would approach the newly announced ceasefire with \u201ccaution and vigilance.\u201d He warned that any targeting of Lebanese sites by Israeli forces would constitute a breach of the truce. Fayyad described the upcoming phase as \u201cthorny and fraught with pitfalls and challenges,\u201d noting that the \u201cworst-case scenario\u201d for Lebanon would be a resumption of civil strife.<\/p>\n
Israel has consistently demanded that the Lebanese government disarm Hezbollah, a demand the group refuses as long as Israeli forces remain in Lebanon and pose a perceived threat.<\/p>\n
Late on Thursday, Israel\u2019s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated that his government now has an opportunity to \u201cmake a historic deal\u201d with Beirut. He confirmed Israel\u2019s agreement to the temporary 10-day ceasefire but asserted that Israeli forces would maintain an \u201cextensive\u201d security zone in Lebanon, extending up to the Syrian border.<\/p>\n
Netanyahu reiterated Israel\u2019s key demand for Hezbollah\u2019s disarmament and rejected Hezbollah\u2019s request for Israeli troop withdrawal beyond its border. Former Israeli diplomat Alon Pinkas dismissed Netanyahu\u2019s framing of the deal, telling Al Jazeera that Netanyahu was \u201ccoerced into this by President Trump\u201d and that it was \u201cnot a ceasefire that he wanted.\u201d Pinkas also expressed skepticism about a lasting peace agreement given Hezbollah\u2019s continued armament.<\/p>\n
Israel\u2019s opposition leader, Yair Lapid, also criticized the ceasefire, stating that the government\u2019s promises were \u201ccrashing against the ground of reality.\u201d He emphasized that the confrontation in Lebanon could only end with the \u201cpermanent removal of the threat to the northern settlements.\u201d<\/p>\n
Following the ceasefire announcement, celebratory gunfire was heard in Beirut. However, displaced individuals in downtown Beirut expressed distrust of Israel\u2019s commitment to the truce, preferring to wait before returning home.<\/p>\n
On Friday, the Lebanese military reported several ceasefire violations, including \u201cIsraeli attacks\u2026 in addition to intermittent shelling targeting a number of villages.\u201d The Lebanese army also urged citizens to \u201cexercise caution in returning to southern villages and towns.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lebanon 24 reported an incident where Israeli forces allegedly fired a machinegun and an artillery shell towards an ambulance team in Kunin, southern Lebanon, resulting in casualties. Earlier, Israeli military spokesperson Avichay Adraee issued an \u201curgent message\u201d to southern Lebanese residents, warning them to remain north of the Litani River, citing \u201congoing terrorist activities\u201d by Hezbollah.<\/p>\n
Hezbollah also cautioned displaced people, urging them to \u201cbe patient and not to head to the targeted areas in the South, the Bekaa and the southern suburbs of Beirut, until the course of events becomes fully clear.\u201d Analyst Alon Pinkas highlighted that key details, particularly regarding a \u201cHezbollah kill zone\u201d in southern Lebanon, remain unresolved, potentially making the ceasefire partial.<\/p>\n
Despite the reported violations, people expressed eagerness to return home, with Al Jazeera\u2019s Zeina Khodr reporting from Nabatieh that residents are determined to hold onto their land.<\/p>\n
On Thursday night, prior to the ceasefire, Hezbollah claimed 38 attacks on Israeli forces in Lebanese territory and 37 in northern Israel. However, on Friday morning, missile strike sirens remained silent across Israel.<\/p>\n
Leaders of regional councils in northern Israel, heavily impacted by the conflict, expressed dissatisfaction with the ceasefire. Moshe Davidovich, head of the Mateh Asher Regional Council, called the ceasefire and the establishment of a security zone up to the Litani River \u201cnot a diplomatic achievement\u201d but a risk for further violence. Shimon Guetta, head of the Ma\u2019ale Yosef Regional Council, demanded \u201ccomplete disarmament of Hezbollah\u201d and \u201cabsolute security\u201d for northern communities.<\/p>\n
Political commentator Abed Abou Shhadeh told Al Jazeera that Israelis, particularly in the north, were frustrated, surprised by Hezbollah\u2019s sustained capabilities, and felt that promises of \u201cabsolute victory\u201d and a buffer zone in southern Lebanon were unfulfilled. He added that many Israelis felt they were being misled by their government regarding the American-Iranian ceasefire agreement.<\/p>\n
This ceasefire follows a previous one, ostensibly in effect since November 27, 2024, which saw over 10,000 Israeli violations and hundreds of Lebanese deaths. Israel maintains that Hezbollah must be disarmed for any truce to last.<\/p>\n
Hezbollah, though weakened by the war, retains significant support within Lebanon\u2019s Shia community. The Lebanese government has expressed unease about Hezbollah\u2019s influence and had outlawed its military wing at the start of the latest conflict. However, Israel claimed in January that Hezbollah was rebuilding its military capabilities faster than the Lebanese army could dismantle them.<\/p>\n
Rami Khouri, a public policy fellow at the American University of Beirut, described Hezbollah as being at the \u201ccentre of the ceasefire, but behind a curtain,\u201d highlighting the complex relationship between Hezbollah and the Lebanese government. He noted that the Lebanese army would likely avoid forcibly disarming Hezbollah to prevent sectarian tensions.<\/p>\n
Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam welcomed the ceasefire as \u201ca central Lebanese demand.\u201d However, Lebanon\u2019s President Joseph Aoun previously refused direct talks with Netanyahu. Sami Nader, director of the Institute of Political Science at Saint Joseph University, suggested the truce could be a significant opportunity for resetting relations, contingent on constructive engagement, Hezbollah\u2019s disarmament, and external support.<\/p>\n
President Trump indicated that Netanyahu and President Aoun might meet in Washington soon. However, Al Jazeera\u2019s Zeina Khodr expressed skepticism, noting the vastly different positions of both governments, making a permanent peace unlikely within a 10-day truce.<\/p>\n
Ori Goldberg, an independent Israeli analyst, suggested that the Israel-Lebanon ceasefire is \u201cmostly about Iran and the US,\u201d with Iranians seeking a comprehensive regional solution. Following the ceasefire announcement, Trump stated that a deal to end the war on Iran was \u201cvery close.\u201d Iran\u2019s Foreign Ministry also welcomed the ceasefire, framing it as part of a broader agreement with the US to pause the regional conflict.<\/p>\n
Chris Featherstone, a political scientist, noted that Iran had insisted on an Israel-Lebanon ceasefire as part of any US-Iran deal, suggesting this truce could pave the way for further negotiations. However, Featherstone also pointed out that this could be another instance of Trump seeking credit for \u201cending wars\u201d as part of his campaign.<\/p>\n
Sami Nader, while acknowledging potential US-Iran dynamics, emphasized that the Lebanese track remains \u201cfundamentally and legally distinct.\u201d He explained that it revolves around bilateral concerns between Lebanon and Israel, such as border delimitation and security, rather than Iran\u2019s nuclear program or ballistic capabilities.<\/p>\n
#IsraelLebanonCeasefire #MiddleEastPeace #DonaldTrump #Hezbollah #LebanonCrisis #IsraelSecurity #RegionalDiplomacy #HumanitarianCrisis #USDiplomacy #Geopolitics<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Israel and Lebanon have announced a 10-day ceasefire, intended to facilitate negotiations for a more enduring security and peace agreement. The truce, declared by United States President Donald Trump on Thursday, became effective at 21:00 GMT. This ceasefire follows six weeks of intense fighting between Israel and the Iran-backed Lebanese group, Hezbollah. During its military […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2954,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2953","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-iran_news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vanak.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2953","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vanak.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vanak.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vanak.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vanak.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2953"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/vanak.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2953\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vanak.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2954"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vanak.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2953"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vanak.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2953"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vanak.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2953"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}