Israel and Lebanon have agreed to a 10-day cease-fire, US President Donald Trump said, as a diplomatic push for a new round of US-Iran talks continued after negotiations in Islamabad last weekend failed to produce a breakthrough.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Lebanese President Joseph Aoun "have agreed that in order to achieve PEACE between their Countries, they will formally begin a 10 Day CEASEFIRE at 5 P.M. EST (9 p.m. UTC)," Trump said in a post on his Truth Social platform on April 16.
Israel has been launching strikes targeting Iran-backed Hezbollah militants in neighboring Lebanon since March 2, two days after the start of the US-Israeli war with Iran, when Hezbollah forces opened fire in support of Tehran. An ongoing two-week cease-fire in the Iran war has not applied to Lebanon.
A militant group and political party that controls much of southern Lebanon, Hezbollah is considered a terrorist organization by the United States, while the European Union has blacklisted its only armed wing. The current Israeli campaign against Hezbollah in Lebanon comes 15 months after another major conflict.
Iranian authorities have repeatedly said that an end to Israeli attacks on targets in Lebanon was a requirement for its own peace negotiations with the United States. Pakistan has said that peace in Lebanon is crucial for its efforts to mediate between the United States and Iran.
'Meaningful Talks'
Reuters cited senior Hezbollah lawmaker Hassan Fadlallah as saying the group had been informed by Iran's ambassador to Lebanon that a one-week cease-fire could begin on the evening of April 16.
"Asked if Hezbollah would commit to the truce, Fadlallah said everything was tied to Israel's commitment to halt all forms of hostilities, and credited Iran's diplomatic efforts for the possible cease-fire," Reuters reported.
In a separate social-media post, Trump said he would be inviting Netanyahu and Aoun to the White House for "meaningful talks" between the two countries, which have been formally at war since Israel was established in 1948.
Trump's cease-fire announcement came two days after the Israeli and Lebanese ambassadors to Washington met, the first major high-level engagement between the two governments in more than three decades. The meeting ended with the sides agreeing to launch direct negotiations at a mutually agreed time and venue.
The gap between Israel and Lebanon had remained wide ahead of the announcement: Lebanon made a full cease-fire its precondition for further talks while Israel refused, with a spokesman for Netanyahu saying there would be no cease-fire with Hezbollah. Netanyahu has said the Israeli campaign's goal is the disarmament of Hezbollah.
More than 2,100 people have been killed in Lebanon since the renewed fighting began and over 1 million displaced, according to Lebanese health officials. Hezbollah attacks have killed two Israeli civilians, while 13 Israeli soldiers have died in Lebanon since March 2, Israel says.
Possible Second Round Of Peace Talks
While the spotlight is on Lebanon for now, Iran and the United States are reportedly looking to arrange a second round of peace talks as a fragile, Pakistani-brokered two-week cease-fire that paused 40 days of fighting expires on April 22.
Reports on April 15 said Tehran and Washington were holding indirect talks to extend the cease-fire, but there has been no official comment from either side.
A second round now appears likely, though not yet confirmed. The White House said it feels "good about prospects of a deal," noting that a potential second round would likely again be held in Pakistan. A Pakistani military delegation led by army chief Asim Munir landed in Tehran on April 15 carrying a new message from Washington, in the latest effort to revive negotiations.
Meanwhile, Iran and the United States are said to have made some progress in the attempt -- mediated by Pakistan -- to reach a peace agreement as a temporary truce between the two begins its second and final week. Major questions remain, including over Tehran's nuclear ambitions.
Munir visited Tehran after the war's first round of peace talks last weekend in Islamabad ended without an agreement. Pakistan's Foreign Ministry said on April 16 that no dates have been set for a second round of talks between Washington and Tehran.
Hegseth: Iran Will Never Have A Nuclear Weapon
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told reporters on April 16 that Washington "will ensure that Iran will never have a nuclear weapon" and called on Tehran to "choose a deal which is within your grasp."
Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said US forces remain “postured and ready” to resume military operations “at a moment’s notice.”
Attention also turns to Paris on April 16, where a separate but linked crisis will dominate. French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer will co-chair a videoconference of around 40 nations aimed at restoring freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz, a vital waterway that has been largely choked off since the start of the US-Israeli air campaign against Iran on February 28.
Discussions are expected to cover possible financial sanctions on Iran if it continues blocking the waterway, alongside steps to work with the shipping industry to resume transit.
Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) has carried out several confirmed attacks on merchant ships and reportedly laid sea mines in the strait in retaliation for the US-Israeli aerial campaign. Begore the war, the Strait of Hormuz carried roughly a quarter of the world's seaborne oil and a fifth of its liquefied natural gas.
A European official familiar with the summit told RFE/RL that Europe would take action only after there is a peace agreement between Iran and the United States. The official said the EU's "substantial" reluctance to join a military effort to reopen the strait stems from the lack of anti-drone defenses in the bloc's naval capabilities.
"Even our brand-new minehunter that will be operational in September doesn't have anti-drone tech onboard," the source said.
The summit, the official said, is meant to serve as "a gesture of goodwill to Trump...with the goal not to torpedo the NATO Ankara Summit," scheduled for July 7-8. Trump has expressed his disappointment with NATO for not joining the war with Iran.
The United States is not participating in the Paris summit after Trump said securing the waterway was not Washington's responsibility. Trump has instead ordered a separate naval blockade of Iranian ports, which Britain has declined to join.
"For as long as it takes, we will maintain this blockade," Hegseth said.
