The Israeli and Lebanese governments have agreed to renew a ceasefire, both sides said Wednesday, after weeks of deadly fighting between Israel and the militant group Hezbollah in southern Lebanon had imperiled broader negotiations between the U.S. and Iran to end their conflict.
The U.S.-brokered deal is contingent on Hezbollah cutting off attacks and evacuating from a swath of southern Lebanon, according to a joint statement issued by the Israeli, Lebanese and American governments. Israel is not in direct conflict with Lebanon’s armed forces.
Hezbollah is backed by Iran and has significant influence within Lebanon, especially among its Shiite community, and the Lebanese state has long struggled to exert control over the U.S.-recognized terrorist group or get it to give up its arms.
The agreement also proposes setting up “pilot zones” where the Lebanese military could take control “to the exclusion of all non-state actors.”
Wednesday’s ceasefire came after two days of talks between Israeli and Lebanese officials in Washington. The joint statement said Israel and Lebanon agreed to hold a further round of talks in about three weeks, “ with a view toward reaching a comprehensive agreement.”
“All countries reaffirmed that the future of the relationship between Israel and Lebanon must be decided by the two sovereign governments,” the statement read. “They rejected any attempt, by any state or non-state actor, to hold Lebanon’s future hostage.”
But hours after the announcement, Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency (NNA) reported that Israel conducted drone strikes along roads at several south Lebanon locations and that at least one caused casualties, according to French news agency AFP.
And Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said Thursday that his country’s troops will stay in south Lebanon and continue operations there for the time being, and evacuated residents of the region won’t be able to return to their homes.
Israel and Hezbollah have traded fire for months, with Hezbollah launching rockets at northern Israel while Israeli forces take control of large parts of southern Lebanon. The two countries struck a ceasefire in mid-April, but fighting continued. President Trump said Israel and Hezbollah agreed to cut back fighting on Monday, but a day later, the two sides traded fire.
More than 3,000 deaths have been reported in Lebanon since fighting began in early March, and dozens of Israeli deaths have been reported, according to both countries’ governments. More than 1 million people in Lebanon, a country estimated to have just under 6 million, have been displaced, the Lebanese government has said.
The conflict has hung over a more sweeping diplomatic effort to cut off months of U.S.-Iran hostilities by extending a ceasefire between the two countries, reopening the Strait of Hormuz and launching talks on the thorny issue of Iran’s nuclear program.
The Iranian government has insisted that any deal to end the U.S. and Israel’s war with Iran must include an end to fighting in Lebanon. Earlier this week, an Iranian news agency said the country had suspended indirect talks with the U.S. because of Israel’s operations in Lebanon, though Mr. Trump said negotiations were still ongoing.
Mr. Trump has pressed Israel and Lebanon to strike a deal. He announced Monday that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had agreed to call off a “major raid of Beirut” and “stop shooting at” Hezbollah, while Hezbollah agreed to stop firing at Israel. Netanyahu later said on social media that he told Mr. Trump the Israeli military would strike targets in Beirut “if Hezbollah does not cease attacking our cities and citizens.”
Axios reported that the call was fiery, with Mr. Trump reportedly calling Netanyahu “f***ing crazy” and declaring that “everybody hates Israel because of this.”
Asked about that report on the New York Post’s “Pod Force One” podcast, Mr. Trump appeared to confirm it. He told the Post’s Miranda Devine he was “a little bit perturbed” by Israel’s fighting with Lebanon, and conveyed to Netanyahu, “we gotta stop this.”
