Donald Trump Expects Complete Cease-Fire as Israel Publishes Expanded Lebanon Occupation Map

U.S. President Donald Trump wrote on Thursday evening that the United States “expects a complete cease-fire on all fronts, including Lebanon, Hezbollah and Israel,” as Israel’s military published a new, expanded Lebanon occupation map showing an expanded zone of control for its troops in southern Lebanon.

Israeli officials told Reuters that Israel was holding talks with the U.S. over continuing its deployment, while Lebanese state media reported that three people were killed in Israeli airstrikes on the southern towns of Kfartebnit and Zebdine on Thursday.

Al-Monitor

Reuters reporters heard an Israeli drone flying low over Beirut and its southern suburbs during the same period, and the CBC report tied the renewed fighting to the broader U.S.-Iran interim framework signed on Wednesday.

The interim pact, as described by CBC, calls for the immediate opening of the Strait of Hormuz and lifting of a U.S. blockade of Iran’s ports, and it also sets a 60-day negotiation period to reach a final settlement to the war that Trump launched in February alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Two Israeli officials told Reuters on Thursday that Israel was “conducting stubborn negotiations” with Washington over continuing its deployment of troops in southern Lebanon, including keeping troops deployed in the area south of Lebanon’s Litani River.

The Arab Weekly reported that Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said Lebanon welcomed support from any country, including Iran, to help secure an end to hostilities, and he said the Lebanese state is sovereign in its decision-making as it negotiates in Washington.

Anadolu Ajansı

In the same Reuters-linked reporting, a second Israeli official said the outcome would depend on whether Trump “decides to force the issue” by threatening repercussions if Israel does not abide by the interim Iran pact’s terms.

CBC also quoted Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem rejecting Israeli security zones in Lebanese territory, saying, “No yellow zones, no red zones, and no green zones. Israel must leave, and it will leave,” while Reuters described continued fighting ticking up again after Trump’s signature.

The dispute over Lebanon is framed in the sources as a test of whether the interim pact’s language about “the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Lebanon” will translate into troop changes, with Israel rejecting calls to withdraw from southern Lebanon where it invaded in March after rocket fire by Hezbollah.

NBC News said the new map shows troops operating several kilometers deeper into the country, including near the Hezbollah stronghold of Nabatieh north of the Litani River, and it described the territory as “the security zone in which IDF (Israel Defense Forces) soldiers are operating in southern Lebanon.”

The Arab Weekly reported that Israel later said five of its soldiers had been injured in two Hezbollah drone attacks in southern Lebanon, while Lebanese state media reported fresh Israeli air strikes and artillery fire in several southern towns throughout Wednesday.

In parallel, the sources describe a diplomatic track in Washington and a separate negotiation track tied to the U.S.-Iran interim agreement, with the Arab Weekly saying Aoun expressed hope that next week’s fifth round of talks “will be more positive,” and CBC reporting that the U.S. vice-president said the goal would allow the Lebanese government to police the south rather than Hezbollah.