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Ceasefire claim, strikes continue
U.S. President Donald Trump said Monday that Israel and Hezbollah have agreed to dial back fighting after he spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and communicated with Hezbollah through mediators, adding that there would be no Israeli troops “going to Beirut, and any Troops that are on their way, have already been turned back.”
“United States President Donald Trump has declared that Israel and Hezbollah have agreed to stop fighting, offering hope to huge numbers of people in Lebanon who have been fleeing an Israeli onslaught”
Trump said Hezbollah had “agreed that all shooting will stop — That Israel will not attack them, and they will not attack Israel,” while Netanyahu confirmed the conversation but warned that Israel would strike targets in Beirut if Hezbollah’s attacks did not stop.
Moments after Trump’s message, Israel detected missile launches from Lebanon and warned Israelis in part of northern Israel to take cover, and the fighting continued as Israel ordered strikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs and Hezbollah fired rockets at northern Israel, including the outskirts of Haifa.
The Israeli military’s Arabic spokesman later posted on X that residents should leave the suburbs, adding that if Hezbollah continues attacking Israeli communities, Israel will launch attacks on the area known in Arabic as Dahiyeh, where Hezbollah enjoys wide support.
In southern Lebanon, Israeli airstrikes overnight left six people dead, including a Syrian citizen in a village near Nabatiyeh, while an airstrike Monday afternoon in Tyre caused heavy damage to the Jabal Amel Hospital, according to the Health Ministry.
Netanyahu, Berri, and Hezbollah
Netanyahu said he told Trump that if Hezbollah “does not stop attacking our cities and citizens, Israel will attack terrorist targets in Beirut,” and he added that “the IDF will continue to operate as planned in southern Lebanon.”
Hezbollah lawmaker Hassan Fadlallah said the group rejected a partial cease-fire offer, demanding a full cease-fire instead, and he said the group supports a “full cease-fire on all Lebanese territory,” adding it would be a “precursor to an Israeli troop withdrawal from all Lebanese territory.”
Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, described as close to Hezbollah and active as an intermediary, was reported to have demanded a Lebanese-wide ceasefire rather than one limited to Beirut, and the Lebanese Embassy in Washington said Hezbollah accepted the U.S. proposal for a mutual cessation of attacks.
The office of Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said shortly afterwards that “Israeli strikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs would cease in exchange for Hezbollah refraining from carrying out attacks against Israel,” while Lebanon’s state news agency later reported Israeli airstrikes were continuing across southern Lebanon.
In parallel, Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi asserted that any ceasefire agreement between Washington and Tehran is a “ceasefire on all fronts, including Lebanon,” warning that violation on one front means violation on all fronts.
What’s at stake next
The ceasefire announcement came as the conflict remained a major obstacle in the emerging deal to extend the ceasefire in the Iran war, with Tehran wanting any agreement to include Lebanon.
Tehran’s position was echoed by Abbas Araghchi, who said the ceasefire between Iran and the US is “unequivocally a ceasefire on all fronts, including Lebanon,” and that “Its violation on one front is a violation of the ceasefire on all fronts.”
The AP reported that the agreement comes ahead of talks between Israel and Lebanon scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday in Washington, where Lebanese negotiators hope to widen the scope of areas that will not be attacked in the country as they seek a complete ceasefire.
In Lebanon, the Lebanese Embassy in Washington said the proposed framework would expand beyond Beirut’s southern suburbs to encompass “all Lebanese territories,” after President Joseph Aoun and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio were involved in the intermediary process.
Meanwhile, the UN Security Council was scheduled to convene for an emergency Lebanon meeting late Monday in New York, with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ spokesman Stéphane Dujarric saying “we are deeply alarmed by the escalation in military activities across southern Lebanon and beyond.”
