President Donald Trump announced Thursday that Israel and Lebanon had agreed to a 10-day ceasefire beginning at 5 p.m. ET, directing Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Joint Chiefs Chairman Dan Caine to pursue what Trump called a “Lasting PEACE.” The one armed force fighting Israel in southern Lebanon — Hezbollah — was not at the table.
Trump posted the announcement on Truth Social after conversations with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The post made no mention of Hezbollah.
The announcement caps six weeks of escalation. On February 28, the United States and Israel struck Iran and killed Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei on the first day of the 2026 Iran war. On March 2, Hezbollah opened fire on Israel in retaliation, ending the November 2024 ceasefire. On March 31, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said Israel would seize and hold everything south of the Litani River — roughly a tenth of Lebanon’s territory — and bar more than 600,000 displaced residents from returning.
Pakistan brokered a two-week US-Iran ceasefire that took effect April 8. Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said it covered Lebanon. Netanyahu said it did not. Hours after the announcement, Israel struck more than 150 targets across Lebanon in ten minutes, killing at least 303 people in what Beirut called Black Wednesday and Israel called Operation Eternal Darkness. Israeli and Lebanese officials held their first direct talks in decades in Washington two days ago.
Aoun’s government in Beirut does not control southern Lebanon. Hezbollah does. The 2024 ceasefire required the Lebanese Armed Forces to deploy 5,000 troops south of the Litani and required Hezbollah to disarm. Neither happened at scale. Senior Hezbollah lawmaker Hassan Fadlallah has condemned the Lebanese government’s decision to hold talks with Israel, saying it leads only to increasing the rift among Lebanese.
A senior Israeli official told the Times of Israel on Wednesday that “there is no ceasefire in Lebanon” and that dismantling Hezbollah serves both countries. IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, touring southern Lebanon the same day, described the area as a “kill zone” for Hezbollah fighters. Katz’s March 31 declaration of indefinite military control over everything south of the Litani stands.
Iran has tied continued cooperation to a halt in Israeli strikes on Lebanon. The Pakistan-brokered US-Iran ceasefire expires April 22. The Strait of Hormuz remains effectively closed, with US Central Command reporting nine ships turned away under the naval blockade as of Wednesday. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the United States was “locked and loaded” for renewed combat if Tehran did not agree to a peace deal.
Aoun signed for a country whose southern third he does not command. Netanyahu signed while his defense minister holds that same territory and his army chief calls it a kill zone. Ten days runs out April 26, four days after the Pakistan deadline.
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