Israel and Lebanon agree 10-day ceasefire, Trump says

The leaders of Israel and Lebanon have agreed a 10-day ceasefire, US President Donald Trump has said, starting from 17:00 EST (21:00 GMT; midnight local time) on Thursday.

For the past six weeks, Israel and Hezbollah - an Iran-backed armed group - have been fighting in southern Lebanon.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed Israel's participation in the truce, but said troops would maintain a 10km-deep (6.2 mile) "security zone" in the country's south, adding: "We are there, and we are not leaving."

Hezbollah appeared willing to participate in the ceasefire, but said it must include "a comprehensive halt to attacks" across Lebanon and "no freedom of movement for Israeli forces".

Iran's foreign ministry also welcomed the ceasefire. Tehran had insisted that its own two-week ceasefire with the US should include Lebanon while the US and Israel said it did not.

The US and Iran have been discussing a second round of peace talks in Pakistan and, speaking to reporters in Washington, Trump said the US and Iran had already agreed on a lot, including that Tehran would not have nuclear weapons "beyond 20 years" - but warned that "if there is no deal, fighting resumes".

The latest war between Israel and Hezbollah began on 2 March, two days after the US and Israel launched a joint attack on Iran, with Hezbollah firing rockets into northern Israel.

The armed group - which is also a political movement in Lebanon - said it was retaliating for the assassination of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

More than 2,000 people in Lebanon have since been killed, with more than a million - or roughly a fifth of the population - displaced. An estimated 37,000 homes have been destroyed or damaged. Israel says Hezbollah attacks have killed two civilians in Israel, and that 13 Israeli soldiers have been killed in combat in Lebanon.

Israel and Lebanon held rare direct talks in Washington this week aimed at easing the war, which has seen deadly air strikes on parts of the Lebanese capital, Beirut. Israel is not in conflict with Lebanon's armed forces.

Announcing the ceasefire, Trump wrote on Truth Social that he would also be inviting Netanyahu and Lebanon's President Joseph Aoun to the White House "for the first meaningful talks between Israel and Lebanon since 1983", during the Lebanese Civil War.

"I think we will have an agreement between Lebanon and they're going to take care of Hezbollah, but they're going to be working on Hezbollah right now," he told reporters outside the White House later on Thursday.

"But we'll have an agreement between Israel, very importantly, and Lebanon."

Trump said he expected Netanyahu and Aoun to arrive in the US for talks "over the next week or two".

Giving further details of the Israel-Lebanon ceasefire agreement, the US State Department stated that:

• it "may be extended by mutual agreement" if negotiations showed signs of progress
• Israel retained its "right to take all necessary measures in self-defence, at any time, against planned, imminent, or ongoing attacks"
• those involved recognised that Lebanon's security forces had exclusive responsibility for Lebanon's security

In the hours leading up to the scheduled start of the ceasefire, Israel and Hezbollah continued to launch cross-border strikes.

While the truce may pause the fighting, the central question of the future of Hezbollah's weaponry remains unresolved.

Lebanese authorities have long argued that disarming Hezbollah cannot be imposed by force and would require negotiation with the group.

A previous ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hezbollah - ending 13 months of conflict - still saw near-daily cross-border strikes.

Israel re-entered southern Lebanon after strikes by Hezbollah in early March, creating a buffer zone it said was necessary to protect communities in northern Israel.

Netanyahu called the ceasefire an "opportunity to make a historic peace agreement" - but said Israeli forces needed to remain in southern Lebanon to "block the danger of invasion".

Disarming Hezbollah was one of the fundamental demands Israel will have in further talks with the Lebanese government, he said in a televised address on Thursday evening.

The US State Department said the Lebanese government had committed to taking "meaningful steps to prevent Hezbollah and all other rogue non-state armed groups from carrying out any attacks, operations or hostile activities against Israeli targets".

Netanyahu said Hezbollah had insisted on Israeli troops withdrawing completely from Lebanese territory and a "quiet for quiet" format to joining the truce.

"I agreed to neither the former nor the latter. And indeed, these two conditions are not being met," he said.

At least 2,196 people have been killed in Israeli attacks in Lebanon since the fighting began, including 260 women and 172 children, according to the Lebanese health ministry, whose figures do not differentiate between civilians and combatants.

Israeli authorities say Hezbollah attacks have killed two civilians in Israel and that 13 Israeli soldiers have been killed in combat in Lebanon.

On Thursday, the Israeli military destroyed the last bridge linking the south to the rest of the country, further isolating the region and renewing fears among many Lebanese that this could lead to a long-term occupation of some areas. Israeli officials have previously said they intend to keep security control over the territory even after the end of the current war.

Recent research from BBC Verify has also shown towns and villages across southern Lebanon are being levelled by Israeli demolitions.

Additional reporting by David Gritten