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United States President Donald Trump announced on April 16 that a ten-day ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah will take effect at 5 p.m. Eastern Time.
“I just had excellent conversations with the highly respected President Joseph Aoun, of Lebanon, and Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu, of Israel,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
“These two leaders have agreed that in order to achieve PEACE between their countries, they will formally begin a 10 Day CEASEFIRE at 5 P.M. EST,” he added.
Trump said that he has directed U.S. Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and US chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Dan Caine to “work with Israel and Lebanon to achieve a Lasting PEACE.”
Hezbollah resumed military operations against Israel early in March, just a day after the start of the American-Israeli war on Iran, ending a ceasefire that was brokered by the U.S. more than 15 months earlier. The group cited the assassination of the Islamic Republic’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and Israel’s repeated ceasefire violations as the reasons for its decision.
Shortly after the announcement, Trump wrote in another Truth Social post that he will be inviting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Lebanese President Joseph Aoun to the White House “for the first meaningful talks between Israel and Lebanon since 1983.”
“Both sides want to see PEACE, and I believe that will happen, quickly!” Trump said.
Earlier in the week, the Israeli and Lebanese ambassadors met in the U.S., laying the groundwork for today’s ceasefire announcement,
The last time senior officials from the two countries met in-person was in 1993, as part of the Madrid Peace Conference, which sought to bring together Israel and its Arab neighbors.
According to Israel’s Ynet News, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told security cabinet ministers in a meeting after the announcement that he agreed to the ceasefire in Lebanon at the request of Trump, and pushed back against demands for an official vote on the matter.
“When Israel’s greatest friend, President Trump, is acting alongside us in close coordination, Israel cooperates with him,” Netanyahu was quoted as saying.
He also reportedly told ministers that the Israeli military will remain positioned at the “strategic points” it currently holds during the ten-day ceasefire.
In Lebanon, Prime Minister Nawaf Salam welcomed Trump’s announcement, without going as far as voicing support for a peace agreement.
“As I congratulate all Lebanese on this achievement, I pray for the martyrs who fell, and affirm my solidarity with their families, with the wounded, and with the citizens who were forced to flee their cities and villages,” he says on X. “I hold full hope that they will be able to return to them as soon as possible.”
Meanwhile, Hezbollah lawmaker Ibrahim al-Moussawi told AFP that the group will respect the ceasefire if Israeli attacks on the organization stop.
“We in Hezbollah will cautiously adhere to the ceasefire on the condition that it is a comprehensive halt to hostilities against us and that Israel not use it to carry out any assassinations,” al-Moussawi said.
“We express thanks to Iran for having applied pressure in Lebanon’s favour,” he added, noting that “the ceasefire would not have happened without Iran considering the ceasefire as equal to closing the Strait of Hormuz.”
In a written statement, Hezbollah ally and speaker of Lebanon’s Parliament Nabih Berri urges Lebanese to “postpone their return to their towns and villages until the situation becomes clearer, in accordance with the ceasefire agreement.”
While recent developments indicate a desire by all sides to de-escalate, a peace agreement between Israel and Lebanon remains highly unlikely.
Even a meeting between Netanyahu and Aoun could cause a serious backlash in Lebanon. Hezbollah is far from being the only party in Lebanon opposed to any normalization with Israel. U.S. attempts to force such a step could easily spark a new civil war in the country.
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the israeli regime perpetually break cease fires.
their position on a cease fire can be simply stated thus: you cease, we fire.