Israel and Lebanon have agreed to a 10-day ceasefire starting later Thursday, President Donald Trump said.
The truce is scheduled to begin at 5 p.m. Eastern, Trump said.
The president announced the pause in fighting on social media, saying it followed “excellent” conversations with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Lebanon and Israel held their first direct diplomatic talks in decades on Tuesday in Washington after more than a month of war between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah group.
Trump said he has directed Vice President JD Vance others to work with Israel and Lebanon to “achieve a Lasting PEACE.”
Shortly afterward, Trump added that “I will be inviting the Prime Minister of Israel, Bibi Netanyahu, and the President of Lebanon, Joseph Aoun, to the White House.”
Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam welcomed Trump’s announcement of a ceasefire, saying a truce was a “key Lebanese demand that we have pursued since the very first day of the war” between Hezbollah and Israel. He also thanked European and Arab states for their involvement.
European Commission president Ursula Von Der Leyen hailed the ceasefire as “a relief.”
But fighting on the ground continued right up until Trump’s announcement.
The Lebanese army said Thursday that Israeli strikes that destroyed the Qasmiyeh bridge over the southern Litani River have cut off the area from the rest of the country.
The Israeli army on Thursday again called on civilians to evacuate the entire area of southern Lebanon up to the Zahrani River, about 40 kilometers (25 miles) north of the border.
Meanwhile, Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency (NNA) reported clashes in Bint Jbeil, a town five kilometers from the border where Hezbollah fighters are battling the Israeli army.
The White House has said it is discussing a possible second round of talks with Iran in the Pakistani capital Islamabad, after a first round last weekend failed to produce a deal.
But a senior US administration official stressed that any end to the hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon was not part of talks between Washington and Tehran.
