A 10-day cease-fire between Israel and Lebanon went into effect as Friday began in the Middle East, a truce that could lift a major obstacle to America’s peace effort with Iran and pause a devastating wave of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, the Iran-backed militant group in Lebanon.
Israeli and Lebanese officials had confirmed they would implement the truce, which was brokered by the U.S. government and announced by President Trump on Thursday after a flurry of diplomatic activity. Hezbollah acknowledged the cease-fire in a pair of statements on Thursday, but did not directly address whether it would accept the truce, saying its actions would be “based on how developments unfold.”
Israel and Hezbollah continued to trade strikes in the hours before the cease-fire was set to take effect, according to statements from each side.
The U.S. State Department, outlining the truce in a memo on Thursday, said that Israel would retain its right “to take all necessary measures in self-defense” but would not carry out “offensive operations” against Lebanese targets by land, air or sea. The Lebanese government, with international support, is expected to take “meaningful steps” to prevent Hezbollah from carrying out attacks against Israeli targets, the memo said.
The conflict between Israel and Hezbollah has imperiled a two-week cease-fire between the United States and Israel on one side and Iran on the other, a pause set to expire next week. Iran has insisted that the truce be extended to Lebanon and by extension, Hezbollah, its most powerful proxy in the Middle East. The United States and Israel had rejected that proposal.
The truce came after a rare round of direct peace talks between Lebanese and Israeli officials held in Washington on Tuesday, a significant shift for two nations with no formal relations. But the Israelis have only been negotiating a cease-fire with the Lebanese government, not with Hezbollah, which is considered more powerful than the country’s own military.
Still, Hezbollah has abided by some deals negotiated by the Lebanese government in the past.
Many questions remained about how the cease-fire would play out.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel said on Thursday that Israeli troops would remain stationed in Lebanon between the coast and the Syrian border. Hezbollah, however, said in a statement from its media office that a cease-fire must not allow Israeli forces “any freedom of movement” and would need to be “comprehensive across all Lebanese territory.”
It was also not clear whether more than a million Lebanese who have been displaced, largely in the country’s south, would be able to return home. The Lebanese Army warned residents of the country’s south on Thursday to hold off on returning to their villages and towns until the truce came into force.
The State Department said in its statement that both Israel and Lebanon had agreed that only Lebanon’s official security forces were authorized to bear arms in southern Lebanon, echoing a longstanding Israeli and U.S. demand for the complete disarmament of Hezbollah. The initial cease-fire period could be extended by the mutual consent of Lebanon and Israel, the statement said, provided that “Lebanon effectively demonstrates its ability to assert its sovereignty.”
Mr. Trump said on Thursday that negotiations between Lebanon and Israel would continue, and that he would invite Mr. Netanyahu and President Joseph Aoun of Lebanon to the White House for direct talks. There was no confirmation from either government that they had accepted Mr. Trump’s invitation, even as the State Department said that both nations had requested that the U.S. government lead further peace efforts.
Israel launched a sweeping military campaign in Lebanon in early March, days after the United States and Israel began an air campaign against Iran. Hezbollah had fired rockets at northern Israel in solidarity with Iran, its patron. Israel’s offensive has expanded into a ground invasion of the country’s south, an area that Israeli officials have signaled plans to occupy.
Since the fighting began, Hezbollah and Israel have fired near-daily bombardments across the border. More than 2,100 people have been killed in Lebanon since the latest round of hostilities erupted, according to the Lebanese authorities. At least 13 Israeli soldiers have also been killed, along with two civilians, according to the Israeli authorities.
Pranav Baskar is an international reporter and a member of the 2025-26 Times Fellowship class, a program for journalists early in their careers.
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