Trump Extends Israel-Hezbollah Ceasefire In Lebanon By Three Weeks

President Donald Trump announced that the ceasefire between Israel and the pro-Iranian Hezbollah militia in Lebanon would be extended by three weeks, after a meeting of representatives of Israel and Lebanon at the White House.

“The ceasefire between the pro-Iranian Hezbollah militia in Lebanon and Israel is set to be extended by three weeks, according to U”

@tagesspiegel

The extension came after a currently in-effect ten-day ceasefire would have expired late Sunday night without an extension, according to @tagesspiegel.

@tagesspiegel

Trump said, “The United States will work with Lebanon to help it defend itself against Hezbollah,” and he also noted Iran’s financing of the militia in response to a reporter’s question.

@tagesspiegel said Trump planned to welcome Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Lebanese President Joseph Aoun, and that he would hold the meeting during the extended ceasefire.

The Washington Post reported that Trump and Vice President JD Vance joined participants of the talks in the Oval Office, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio and State Department Counselor Michael Needham, along with the ambassadors from Israel and Lebanon.

Jewish Insider described the meeting as the second round of Israeli-Lebanese peace talks, with Trump convening senior U.S., Israeli and Lebanese officials at the White House on Thursday and moving the summit to the Oval Office to participate and lead the negotiations.

In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump said, “The Meeting went very well! The United States is going to work with Lebanon in order to help it protect itself from Hezbollah,” and he added, “I look forward in the near future to hosting the Prime Minister of Israel, Bibi Netanyahu, and the President of Lebanon, Joseph Aoun.”

Multiple outlets tied the Lebanon ceasefire extension to broader regional dynamics and to the Iran war, describing parallel diplomacy and continued military activity.

@tagesspiegel said the war in Lebanon is closely tied to the Iran war because Iran is Hezbollah’s main backer and the militia acts in Tehran’s interest or on Tehran’s orders, adding that Hezbollah resumed firing at Israel in early March after the killing of Ajatollah Ali Chamenei in an air strike.

Al Jazeera

It also said the Israeli Air Force responded with massive air strikes in which more than 2,000 people were killed and about 1.2 million displaced, and that Trump recently unilaterally extended a standing ceasefire shortly before its expiration.

NPR reported that the Lebanon ceasefire is tied to broader U.S. efforts to extend a separate ceasefire with Iran, and it said Iran has insisted that the fighting in Lebanon remain paused in order to continue peace talks with the United States.

The Washington Post described the ceasefire’s extension as coming amid continued attacks, noting that the 10-day ceasefire “has been only tenuously followed, with fewer but continued attacks by Israel and Hezbollah.”

It said Israel Defense Forces carried out strikes in Kherbet Selem and Touline in southern Lebanon on Friday, while there were no indications that Hezbollah had fired back.

NPR also described how Hezbollah’s rocket fire into northern Israel came after an Israeli airstrike killed Lebanese journalist Amal Khalil Wednesday while she was reporting in southern Lebanon, and it said Khalil’s death makes her the eighth journalist killed by Israel in Lebanon in the past two months, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.

Hezbollah reacted to the ceasefire extension with defiance, while Lebanese officials pushed for conditions tied to Israeli troop withdrawals and broader negotiations.

“Trump says Lebanon and Israel agree to extend Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire by 3 weeks Trump says Lebanon and Israel agree to extend Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire by 3 weeks Washington (AP) — President Donald Trump said Israel and Lebanon have agreed to extend a ceasefire between Israel and the Hezbollah militant group by three weeks after talks at the White House on Thursday”

AP News

The Washington Post reported that Hezbollah reacted with contempt to Trump’s announcement of a three-week extension, calling the truce “meaningless,” and it quoted Ali Fayyad, a member of the Hezbollah faction in Lebanon’s parliament, saying that any Israeli operations in Lebanon give Hezbollah the right “to respond proportionately.”

The Post also said Fayyad added that any deal that does not include an Israeli withdrawal from Lebanese territory affirms the Lebanese people’s “right to resist the occupation.”

@tagesspiegel reported that senior Hezbollah official Mahmud Komati told local TV stations that representatives of the Lebanese government were not entitled to negotiate with Israel about ending the fighting, saying direct negotiations would mean recognizing an enemy “that kills our people.”

It added that Komati said, “Regardless of the outcome of the talks, we will not accept another Israeli “occupation” of southern Lebanon,” and it quoted a member of the militia’s politburo saying, “If the ceasefire ends, the war will continue without a time limit.”

On the Lebanese government side, @tagesspiegel said Prime Minister Nawaf Salam urged the U.S. government to increase pressure on Israel regarding its ground troops in southern Lebanon, and he told the Washington Post that Lebanon cannot sign any agreement that does not include a “full withdrawal” of Israeli troops.

@tagesspiegel also quoted Salam saying, “One cannot live with a so-called buffer zone where residents cannot return to their homes in the south.”

Outlets diverged in how they characterized the extension’s meaning, the role of Hezbollah, and the prospects for a lasting settlement.

The Washington Post emphasized Hezbollah’s contempt and the question of whether the Lebanese government can bring Hezbollah under control, describing concerns about the ceasefire’s long-term prospects and quoting Ali Fayyad’s position that Hezbollah can respond proportionately to Israeli operations.

BBC

In contrast, Jewish Insider framed Trump’s involvement as a catalyst for securing the extension and described how Trump said Hezbollah’s refusals to disarm and cease attacks on Israel and its forces were main topics during the talks.

Jewish Insider also reported Trump’s insistence that he would not prevent Israelis from responding if hit by Hezbollah, and it quoted Trump saying, “Israel is going to have to defend itself if they’re shot at, and they will.”

NPR, meanwhile, foregrounded the fragility of the ceasefire by linking it to the Strait of Hormuz tensions and to the separate U.S.-Iran track, and it reported that Hezbollah’s rocket fire into northern Israel came after the killing of Lebanese journalist Amal Khalil.

Al Jazeera described the extension as part of a wider Iran-war diplomatic picture, saying Trump “could make a deal right now” with Iran but is willing to wait for an “everlasting” agreement, and it said an Israeli strike killed three people in southern Lebanon despite the 10-day ceasefire being extended.

@tagesspiegel focused on the political dispute over negotiations, quoting Hezbollah’s Mahmud Komati rejecting direct negotiations and warning that the war would continue without a time limit if the ceasefire ends.

The sources describe immediate next steps for diplomacy and also outline the risks that continued violence and legal-political disputes could derail any longer-term settlement.

“Trump says Israel-Lebanon ceasefire to be extended by three weeks US President Donald Trump said a ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon would be extended by three weeks after fresh talks between the countries' envoys in Washington”

BBC

Trump said he expected to meet in Washington with Netanyahu and Aoun during the extended ceasefire, and AP reported that Trump said he expects to meet in Washington with Netanyahu and Joseph Aoun “in the next couple of weeks.”

CBC

The Washington Post said the three-week pause in fighting is designed to provide more time to work out a “permanent peace,” with Rubio saying Thursday that “What’s standing in the way is … a terrorist organization that operates within their national territory.”

At the same time, multiple outlets described continued military activity and violations, with the Washington Post saying the 10-day ceasefire was only tenuously followed and with Israel Defense Forces carrying out strikes in Kherbet Selem and Touline in southern Lebanon on Friday.

NPR reported that Israel’s military struck several Hezbollah sites in southern Lebanon after Hezbollah fired into Israel, and it also said the conflict in Lebanon has killed nearly 2,300 people and displaced roughly 1.2 million, according to the Lebanese government.

On the political-legal front, Jewish Insider reported Trump said he would “make sure” that Lebanese laws criminalizing official communications with Israel were “ended very quickly,” criticizing the policy as “crazy,” while Axios and CBC described preparations for wider-reaching negotiations between Lebanon and Israel.

CBC said Aoun’s aim for future talks is to “fully” stop Israeli attacks, secure withdrawal of Israeli troops from Lebanon, win release of Lebanese prisoners held in Israel, deploy Lebanese troops along the border and begin the reconstruction process, and it added that Hezbollah has rejected the talks.