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Israel and Lebanon have agreed to a 10-day ceasefire starting on Thursday, US President Donald Trump said after speaking to Israeli premier Benjamin Netanyahu and Lebanon’s President Joseph Aoun.
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“These 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,” Trump said in a post on his Truth Social network, without mentioning Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah group.
“I will be inviting the Prime Minister of Israel, Bibi Netanyahu, and the President of Lebanon, Joseph Aoun, to the White House for the first meaningful talks between Israel and Lebanon since 1983, a very long time ago,” Trump wrote in a separate post a few minutes later.
During the fragile ceasefire with Iran, fighting has continues in Lebanon between Israel and Hezbollah.
Trump had announced earlier on Thursday that the leaders of Israel and Lebanon would speak about halting the fighting. If that were to occur, it would be the first direct conversation between the leaders of the two countries in more than 30 years.
But Lebanon’s president refused to speak to Israel’s prime minister, a government official familiar with the developments said.
The government official, who spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations, said the remarks were made during a call with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and that Washington “understands Lebanon’s position.”
Aoun’s office acknowledged a call with Rubio, but did not mention the possibility of talks with Netanyahu. Netanyahu’s office did not do so either.
Lebanon and Israel held their first direct diplomatic talks in decades Tuesday in Washington following more than a month of war between Israel and Hezbollah. Lebanon has insisted on a ceasefire to stop the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah before engaging in direct talks, while vowing to commit to disarming the group.
Washington has not publicly stated its support of a ceasefire as a precondition and the Israeli government has framed the talks as peace negotiations with a focus on disarming Hezbollah.
Israel and Hezbollah continued exchanging fire across the border, with Hezbollah targeting towns in northern Israel with rockets and drones. Israeli fire against southern Lebanon intensified, especially around the cities of Tyre, Nabatieh and the strategic town of Bint Jbeil near the border with Israel.
Israel and Lebanon have technically been at war since Israel was established in 1948, and Lebanon remains deeply divided over diplomatic engagement with Israel.
Israeli troops have pushed deeper into southern Lebanon to create what officials have called a “security zone,” which Netanyahu has said will extend at least 8 to 10 kilometres into Lebanon.
The current fighting started on 2 March when Hezbollah launched air strikes at Israel, it says in retaliation for the killing of Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in the opening salvos of the Iran war.
Additional sources • AP, AFP
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