Lebanese civilians greeted the arrival of a ten-day ceasefire between Lebanon and Israel with what appeared to be celebratory gunfire in Beirut’s southern suburbs — the heartland of Hezbollah — though that could not be independently confirmed as the truce came into force Friday.
The halt in hostilities followed phone calls that US President Donald Trump described as “excellent” with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Lebanese President Joseph Aoun. Trump announced the agreement on his Truth Social platform, saying the two leaders had “agreed that in order to achieve PEACE between their Countries, they will formally begin a 10 Day CEASEFIRE at 5 P.M. EST.”
According to AFP, Trump said he expected both Netanyahu and Aoun to visit the White House “over the next four or five days” — what would be an unprecedented face-to-face meeting between the leaders of the two countries.
The conflict, which drew in Lebanon after Hezbollah launched rockets at Israel on March 2 — four days after the United States and Israel attacked Iran on February 28 — has killed more than 2,000 people in Lebanon and displaced over one million. Israeli ground forces have also pushed into the country’s south.
Even as the truce was being announced, Israel’s military said it had struck more than 380 targets belonging to the “Hezbollah terror organization in southern Lebanon” and remained on “high alert” to resume operations. Hours before the ceasefire deadline, an Israeli strike on the southern Lebanese town of Ghazieh killed at least seven people and wounded 33, Lebanon’s health ministry said. An Israeli hospital spokesman confirmed three additional injuries on Thursday.
Netanyahu said the truce presented an opening for a “historic peace agreement” with Beirut, but maintained that Hezbollah’s disarmament was a precondition — along with a lasting peace “based on strength.” Israel would also keep a ten-kilometer security zone along the Lebanese border in the country’s south.
There was a gap in how Washington and Tel Aviv characterized the agreement. Trump said Hezbollah was a party to the ceasefire, while the US State Department said the deal committed Lebanon’s government to dismantling the Iran-backed group.
A Hezbollah lawmaker told AFP the group would “cautiously adhere” to the ceasefire, provided Israel halted its attacks. Ibrahim al-Moussawi credited Iranian pressure for making the truce possible, saying “the ceasefire would not have happened without Iran considering the ceasefire as equal to closing the Strait of Hormuz.”
Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam called the ceasefire a “key Lebanese demand that we have pursued since the very first day of the war,” while Aoun’s office publicly thanked Trump for his role. Behind the scenes, however, an official source told AFP that Aoun had declined Trump’s request for a direct phone call with Netanyahu.
Reaction on the streets of Beirut was cautious. Lawyer Tarek Bou Khalil, speaking to AFP from a café in the capital, said “it’s well known Trump cannot be taken at his word, and Netanyahu cannot be trusted,” but acknowledged that military setbacks and outside pressure had forced the ceasefire. Housewife Jamal Shehab, 61, was more direct: “We are very happy that a ceasefire has been reached in Lebanon because we are tired of war and we want safety and peace.”
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres welcomed the truce, calling on “all actors to fully respect” it — language that pointedly included Hezbollah.
Tehran had insisted that any agreement to end its war with the United States and Israel must include a Lebanon ceasefire. Trump said Washington was now “very close” to a broader peace deal with Iran and suggested he might travel to Pakistan to sign it.
