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<\/a><\/p>\nA photograph taken from the southern Lebanese area of Tyre shows smoke as it rises from the site of Israeli airstrikes that targeted villages on southern Lebanon on April 16, 2026. (Kawnat HAJU \/ AFP)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\u201cI just had excellent conversations with the Highly Respected President Joseph Aoun, of Lebanon, and Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu, of Israel,\u201d Trump wrote in a Thursday post on Truth Social. \u201cThese two Leaders have agreed that in order to achieve PEACE between their Countries, they will formally begin a 10 Day CEASEFIRE at 5 P.M. EST.\u201d<\/p>\n
Trump added in a separate post that he was inviting both Aoun and Netanyahu to the White House for \u201cthe first meaningful talks between Israel and Lebanon since 1983, a very long time ago.\u201d<\/p>\n
He wrote: \u201cBoth sides want to see PEACE, and I believe that will happen, quickly!\u201d<\/p>\n
The announcement comes over a week into a separate ceasefire between the United States and Iran, which Israel joined but said would not apply to its fighting in Lebanon, where Hezbollah, an Iran-backed proxy, is based.<\/p>\n
The announcement reportedly came as a surprise to even some of Netanyahu\u2019s closest deputies, arriving a day after he told the country that he had instructed the army to deepen its fighting against Hezbollah. He told members of his cabinet on Thursday that Trump had requested the pause, according to Israeli media.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have an opportunity to reach a historic peace agreement with Lebanon,\u201d Netanyahu told Israelis in a video statement announcing the truce.<\/p>\n
Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam welcomed the ceasefire in a post on X, writing, \u201cAs I congratulate all Lebanese on this achievement, I pray for the martyrs who fell, and affirm my solidarity with their families, with the wounded, and with the citizens who were forced to flee their cities and villages.\u201d<\/p>\n
Negotiating with Lebanon is complicated because it does not control Hezbollah, which began firing on Israel two days after Israel and the United States launched a war on Iran in February. Since then, Hezbollah has launched hundreds of rockets into Israel, causing widespread damage and prompting Israeli strikes across Lebanon as well as a ground operation in the country\u2019s south.<\/p>\n
A burst of rocket fire by Hezbollah shortly before the ceasefire\u2019s scheduled start left at least one man in Israel seriously wounded.<\/p>\n
A senior Hezbollah official told Reuters that Iran\u2019s ambassador to Lebanon had informed the group about a ceasefire. He said Hezbollah would commit only if Israel halted all forms of hostilities.<\/p>\n
Iranian negotiators have insisted that the fighting in Lebanon must be included in any longer-term agreement with the United States and Israel, but Israeli officials have maintained that its forces will remain in Lebanon during the ceasefire.<\/p>\n
Netanyahu convened a meeting with the country\u2019s security cabinet on Thursday after news of the ceasefire broke, telling ministers that he had accepted the deal at the request of Trump.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen Israel\u2019s greatest friend, President Trump, is acting alongside us in close coordination, Israel cooperates with him,\u201d Netanyahu said, according to Ynet.<\/p>\n