Yolande Knell
Middle East correspondent, in Jerusalem

Hezbollah continued to fire rockets at northern Israel until just before midnight local time when the ceasefire came into effect. Israeli shelling of Lebanese villages is said to have continued for half an hour afterwards.

But the hope is that this truce – brokered by Washington – will advance a peace deal between Israel and Lebanon, which have no diplomatic relations.

President Trump has invited their leaders to the White House for what he described as the “first meaningful talks” between the two countries in over 40 years.

However, Israel is insisting its forces will not withdraw from southern Lebanon where the Prime Minister said it’s creating what he called a “security zone” six miles from the border.

Hezbollah has indicated it will stick to the ceasefire – but has also said that Israel’s ongoing occupation grants the Lebanese the right to resist – a position which could cause complications.

If you are just joining our coverage, let's quickly round-up some of the key developments in the last few hours:

• A ten-day ceasefire has come into effect that could halt six weeks of fighting between Israel and the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah
• Even as the truce began at midnight local time, Hezbollah continued to fire rockets into northern Israel while Israeli shelling is said to have continued for half an hour afterwards
• Israel insists its troops will remain in areas they have occupied in southern Lebanon; while Hezbollah believes the deal gives the Lebanese the right to resist
• Our security correspondent Frank Gardner assess the details of the ceasefire agreement - one, he writes, that is more fragile than the one between the US and Iran

• Iran welcomed the ten-day truce, but called for a full Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon
• President Donald Trump has expressed optimism regarding a deal to ending the conflict with Iran, saying negotiations could resume this weekend
• Later today, around 40 countries are to take part in a meeting, chaired by the UK and France, to discuss joint efforts to restore freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz

Image source, EPA

The United Nations' Secretary General António Guterres says he welcomes the ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon, and thanks the US for helping facilitate it.

"I hope this will pave the way for negotiations towards a long-term solution to the conflict & contribute to ongoing efforts toward a lasting & comprehensive peace in the region," Guterres says in a statement.

He also urges all parties to respect the ceasefire and to "comply with international law at all times".

Image source, Getty Images

The UK and France will chair a meeting with allies later today to discuss joint efforts to restore freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz.

Tehran has effectively closed the critical waterway off Iran's coast in response to US-Israeli strikes, while the US has started its own blockade on Iranian ports, all of which have led to a surge in global energy prices.

Around 40 countries are expected to join this afternoon's meeting, Keir Starmer's office said, adding that the leaders will "focus on supporting the fragile ceasefire in the region and [in] ensuring shipping routes are reopened and secured through the Strait for the long term".

Starmer is expected to tell the meeting that "the unconditional and immediate reopening" of the strait "is a global responsibility", Downing Street said.

They will also discuss the potential deployment of "a strictly defensive multinational military mission, in order to ensure freedom of navigation," according to the invitation sent by the Elysee which was seen by AFP.

Peter Bowes
North America correspondent

Image source, Reuters

President Donald Trump says Iran has agreed to hand over its enriched uranium, one of the key sticking points in negotiations to bring the war to an end.

Fresh talks, he said, could resume as early as this weekend with Washington and Tehran "very close" to making a deal.

Speaking at an event in Las Vegas, focusing on the US economy, the US president gave one of his most upbeat assessments of the war since it started. He said it was going "swimmingly" and should be ending soon.

Earlier, at the White House, he said Iran had agreed not to obtain a nuclear weapon and would turn over what he called the "nuclear dust" - enriched uranium believed to be buried underground following the US-Israeli airstrikes last year. Iran has not commented on the president's claim.

Apparently confident that a fresh round of face-to-face talks is imminent, Trump said he wasn't sure an extension to the ceasefire with Iran, which is due to expire in five days, was necessary.

The Israeli military has warned residents in Lebanon not to move south of the Litani River as its troops remain deployed there.

On Thursday, the Lebanese army said the area south of the river, about 40km north of its border with Israel, has been cut off from the rest of the country because of Israeli strikes.

• For context: Last month, Israeli forces were instructed to destroy crossings over the Litani river that it said were being used by Hezbollah to send reinforcements.

Donald Trump has just described this as a "historic" day for Lebanon.

"Good things are happening!!!" he says in a Truth Social post minutes ago.

In a separate post earlier, he had said he "hopes Hezbollah acts nicely and well during this important period of time".

Four Iran-linked ships have crossed the blockade linepublished at 03:54 BST

03:54 BST

By Joshua Cheetham

Four ships have crossed over the US blockade line after sailing from Iranian ports, according to tracking data.

All the vessels we’ve been monitoring are container ships, three are flagged to Iran and the fourth, Tava 4, is registered in Comoros.

Since the blockade was introduced at 15:00 BST on Monday, the ships to cross it that we’ve tracked in MarineTraffic data are:

• Azargoun - left the port of Shahid Rajee and crossed at around 16:00 and has apparently sailed to Kandla in north-western India
• Ashkan3 - left the eastern Iranian port of Chabahar just after 12:00 and is currently showing as being in Karachi, Pakistan
• Shabdis - which also departed Chabahar and crossed at around 21:00 and is showing as off the south-west coast of India near Kerala, giving its destination as Zhuhai in China
• Tava 4 - sailed from Bandar Imam Khomeini in Iran and crossed the blockade line at 13:00, it reports to be off India’s west coast and heading to Jawaharlal Nehru Port near Mumbai

This assessment is based on these ships self-reported positions via their tracking data. However, some vessels may be turning their trackers off or be transmitting a false position, a practice known as "spoofing".

At a press conference earlier today Gen Dan Caine said the US “[continued] to hold the blockade”. When asked about the timing of these crossings, US Central Command told the BBC it had “nothing to add to the chairman's statements”.

Lucy Williamson
Middle East correspondent, reporting from Jerusalem

Image source, Reuters

As news of the ceasefire spread through Israel's northern communities, sirens blared three times this evening warning of incoming rockets from Lebanon.

In the sky above the northern city of Nahariya, Israel's air defence interceptors shot up to block them, triggering loud explosions. Ambulance crews said at least three people were wounded by shrapnel in the hours before the ceasefire took effect, including two seriously.

On the ground here – and across the country – there's scepticism about why Israel's leader has signed up to the truce.

"I feel like the government lied to us," said Gal, a student in Nahariya. "They promised that this time it would end differently, but it seems like we're once again heading toward a ceasefire agreement that solves nothing."

Read Lucy Williamson's report from Jerusalem.

Image source, Getty Images

Oil prices retreated slightly on Friday morning in Asia after a ceasefire between Lebanon and Israel came into effect.

The conflict strained a two-week conditional ceasefire between the US and Iran, with Tehran saying Israel's attacks on Lebanon were a breach of the agreement.

The price of the global benchmark Brent crude fell by nearly 1% to $98.50 (£72.86) a barrel, while US-traded oil was down by 1.2% at $93.60.

Major Asian markets edged lower on Friday morning after climbing during the week. Japan's Nikkei 225 index dipped by 0.8%, while the Kospi in South Korea was lower by 0.3%.

Image source, Reuters

US President Donald Trump addressed the war in Iran briefly during a tax day roundtable in Nevada. He said, "I will say the war in Iran is going along swimmingly" and that It "should be ending pretty soon".

He did not elaborate, but commended the US military for being good at shooting down rockets.

Over the weekend, talks in Islamabad between the US, Iran and mediators failed to bring about a deal.

The White House says discussions around a possible second round of peace talks are "ongoing" but no time or place has been confirmed.

The Lebanese Army says there have already been a number of violations of the ceasefire agreement between Lebanon and Israel.

In a post on its official account on X, the army says it has recorded several Israeli attacks, including intermittent shelling, on Lebanese villages.

It urges displaced people to exercise caution in returning to southern towns and to avoid hazardous areas.

There has been no comment yet from the IDF.

Lebanon forms an "integral part" of a comprehensive ceasefire with the US, a speaker for the Iranian parliament has said.

In a statement on Telegram, Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf sets out that Lebanon will play "an important role in moving forward for lasting peace in the region".

His comments follow a meeting with a Pakistani military officer.

"The issue of establishing a comprehensive ceasefire in all conflict areas is one of the clauses of the initial ceasefire agreement between Iran and the United States, mediated by Pakistan," the statement says.

US President Donald Trump is urging Hezbollah, the Iran-backed militant group in southern Lebanon, to abide by the ceasefire with Israel that has gone into effect.

"I hope Hezbollah acts nicely and well during this important period of time," the president writes on Truth Social.

"It will be an GREAT moment for them if they do. No more killing. Must finally have PEACE!"

The ceasefire is technically between Israel and Lebanon, where Hezbollah is based.

An Israeli official told the the BBC's US partner CBS News that Israel will only respond militarily during the ceasefire to "imminent threats from Hezbollah".

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday that a more lasting peace deal will require that the Iran-backed group is disarmed.

There have been scenes of celebration and relief in Lebanon as displaced people started returning to their homes after the truce began.

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reu

Image source, Reuters

Ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah is very fragilepublished at 01:16 BST

01:16 BST

Frank Gardner
Security correspondent

Reactions to this latest ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon may be one of relief tempered with a fairly hefty dose of scepticism.

Remember that the conflict is not between Israel and Lebanon - it's between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah.

Hezbollah, of course, is completely embedded in Lebanon, both politically and militarily - and the fact that there initially hadn't been any announcement or immediate reaction from Hezbollah is a little bit ominous.

The group has since signalled it is likely to abide by the ceasefire - but adds that a deal will need to include a "comprehensive halt" to all attacks in Lebanon.

The Israelis will take very little provocation from Hezbollah before they are tempted to break that ceasefire.

This is a very fragile ceasefire, even more fragile, I would say, than the one between Iran and the US, and of course the two are not disconnected.

Israel and the US are trying to say that this is a separate issue but for there to be peace in the Middle East, there has got to be peace in the Gulf, in Iran and in Lebanon - and we are a very, very long way off resolving the conflict between Hezbollah and Israel, which has got very deep roots and extends right back into events that take place in the West Bank and Gaza.

This is breathing space at best.

Image source, Reuters

The Israel-Lebanon ceasefire agreement came into force just a few hours ago, at 00:00 in Israel and Lebanon (22:00 BST and 17:00 EST).

What we know:

• The ceasefire is set to last for 10 days initially, but the US says it could be extended

• Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says it will create an opportunity for a "historic peace agreement" with Lebanon
• Iran-backed Hezbollah has agreed to abide by the ceasefire, while demanding it must include "a comprehensive halt to attacks across all Lebanese territory" and "no freedom of movement for Israeli forces"
• Netanyahu says Israeli troops will remain in a 10km-deep (6.2 mile) "security zone" in southern Lebanon - which goes against Hezbollah's demand for them to withdraw
• The US State Department says under the terms of the deal, the Lebanese government must "take meaningful steps" to prevent Hezbollah attacking Israel
• It adds that Lebanon’s security forces have "exclusive responsibility" for Lebanon’s sovereignty and national defence
• Just as the ceasefire came into force, the Israel Defense Foces (IDF) issued a statement saying it had hit more than 380 Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon in the previous 24 hours, including rocket launchers, headquarters and Hezbollah members themselves

We don't know what the next steps will be. Trump says he has invited the leaders of Israel and Lebanon to the White House, but nothing is confirmed yet.