BEIRUT — Israel has agreed to a 10-day ceasefire in Lebanon, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday, after an announcement of the pause by President Donald Trump.
Hezbollah, the Lebanese group fighting Israel, did not say whether it would recognize the agreement. “A ceasefire must include a comprehensive halt to attacks across all Lebanese territory, with no freedom of movement for Israeli forces, and a return to the situation prior to March 2,” when the current round of conflict between Israel and Hezbollah began, the group said in a statement.
The announcement came amid a wider push in the region to end the war in Iran, as U.S. and Iranian negotiators continue to exchange messages, without yet agreeing to a second round of talks.
The Trump administration ramped up pressure in recent days on Israel and Lebanon to agree to a truce, after continued violence there threatened to upend the administration’s ceasefire with Iran. Hezbollah is closely allied with Iran and restarted attacks on Israel in response to the killing of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. This prompted large-scale Israeli attacks across the country.
Israel has insisted that Lebanon and Hezbollah were not covered by the ceasefire announced earlier this month — which Iran and Pakistan, which mediated the ceasefire, disputed.
Lebanon and Israel have “agreed that in order to achieve PEACE between their Countries, they will formally begin a 10 Day CEASEFIRE,” Trump said in his post giving word of Thursday’s agreement.
Trump’s statement followed a call with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun on Thursday, in which he expressed “his commitment to fulfilling the Lebanese request for a ceasefire as soon as possible,” according to a statement from Aoun’s office.
Lebanon’s presidential office said Aoun also spoke to U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Thursday, who “affirmed his continuation of the ongoing efforts to achieve a ceasefire as a prelude to establishing peace.”
Israel and Hezbollah have been fighting on and off since the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel. A heavy Israeli air campaign has destroyed many villages in southern Lebanon and heavily damaged Beirut’s southern suburbs. Israeli ground forces have pushed into Lebanon, taking control of a stretch of territory roughly 18 miles wide along the border.
Israel and Hezbollah initially agreed to a ceasefire in November 2024, and the truce prevented an immediate return to all-out war. But Israel continued to launch strikes on Lebanese territory in the interim. War resumed in early March after Hezbollah attacked Israel in the wake of Khamenei’s killing in U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran. Since then, Lebanon’s Health Ministry says, more than 2,100 people have been killed. The ministry does not differentiate between civilians and combatants, but it said 172 children are among the dead.
While pursuing negotiations with Iran, the Trump administration continues to threaten a return to conflict with Tehran should talks fail.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, speaking at the Pentagon on Thursday morning, sent a message directly to Iran, warning that while the Iranian military is digging out from earlier U.S. and Israeli strikes, the U.S. is “reloading with more power than ever before” and is “locked and loaded” for more strikes on “dual-use infrastructure,” targets such as power plants that have both military and civilian uses, should a deal fail to materialize and the fighting resumes.
The U.S. enforcement of the blockade, Hegseth said, is “the polite way that this can go,” with U.S. warships and aircraft preventing tanker ships and other vessels transiting to and from Iranian ports.
Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, appearing alongside Hegseth, said that 13 ships have turned around and returned to Iran amid the blockade and that none have broken through. U.S. forces have not boarded any Iranian-flagged vessels in the effort, Caine said.
The historic talks between the U.S. and Iran last weekend broke down over several issues, notably a disagreement between Iran and the United States over how long Tehran should pause the enrichment of uranium. Iran maintains that its nuclear program is for civilian purposes. Vice President JD Vance led those negotiations for the U.S.
In recent days, officials and diplomats have floated the possibility of a second round of talks. Since the Islamabad meeting, Iran and the U.S. have continued to exchange messages, according to a Pakistani official who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to brief the media. The official said Pakistan is also exploring the possibility of extending the ceasefire.
“This is to create space for peace talks so that they could continue,” the official said. The Trump administration has dismissed reports that the ceasefire will be extended.
Senior Pakistani officials have also embarked on travel in the region to support the diplomatic effort. Pakistan’s army chief, Field Marshal Asim Munir, who has emerged as one of the most important figures in the peacemaking effort, traveled to Tehran Wednesday. And Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif began a regional tour this week that will take him from Saudi Arabia to Qatar and Turkey.
Netanyahu, in a statement Wednesday, acknowledged diplomatic efforts to end the fighting in Lebanon. “In parallel, we are conducting negotiations with Lebanon,” he said. “These negotiations have not taken place for 40 years or more. … In the negotiations with Lebanon, there are two primary objectives: first, the disarmament of Hezbollah, and second, a sustainable peace. Peace through strength.”
Netanyahu, who has been criticized in Israel for not being part of Trump’s decision to pause the fighting with Iran, said Wednesday that he was being updated “constantly” by Washington. “Our goals are identical,” he said, though analysts have noted divergence between U.S. and Israeli interests, and some Israelis have opposed the ceasefire, saying it was too soon to halt the fighting.
George reported from Islamabad, Pakistan. Dan Lamothe in Washington, Lior Soroka in Tel Aviv and Mohamad El Chamaa in Beirut contributed to this report.
correctionA headline with a previous version of this article incorrectly said that President Donald Trump said leaders of Israel and Lebanon would meet. Trump said they would speak. The article also previously misstated the first name of a member of Israel’s security cabinet. She is Gila Gamliel.
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