Lebanon and Israel have agreed to a ceasefire. What does it include? – Nationally
Israel and Lebanon have agreed to a US-backed ceasefire in the conflict between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah, a deal designed to enable broader US-Iran talks but which will see Israeli forces maintain positions in southern Lebanon.
Israel and Lebanon agreed to implement a “ceasefire” on April 16 at 2100 GMT for an initial 10-day period to allow for peace talks between the two countries, according to a draft agreement released by the State Department.
The agreement states that the Lebanese government, with international support, will take “reasonable measures” to prevent Hezbollah and other groups from attacking Israel.
It also says that Israel and Lebanon see the national security forces as “specially responsible for the sovereignty of Lebanon and the defense of the country”, referring to the government’s request from 2025 to disarm Hezbollah.
Under the agreement, “Israel will maintain its right to take all measures necessary to defend itself, at any time, against planned, imminent, or ongoing attacks.”
Apart from this, “Israel will not carry out any military attack against Lebanese targets, including civilian, military, and other state targets, in Lebanese territory by land, air, and sea,” the agreement said.
The 10-day period can be extended by agreement as the talks continue and depending on whether “Lebanon successfully demonstrates its ability to assert its sovereignty”, it added, in another reference to Lebanon’s efforts to rid itself of Hezbollah.
Does the agreement go unnoticed?
The agreement does not require Israel to withdraw from southern Lebanon, where Israeli forces have been destroying villages and infrastructure after ordering residents south of the Litani River to flee. This area makes up about eight percent of Lebanon’s area.
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Israeli defense officials say troops are holding positions up to 10 kilometers inside Lebanon as part of a “safe zone” to prevent attacks by Hezbollah in Israel, which views the area and many of its villages as strongholds for the Iran-backed group.
Although the agreement gives Israel the right to take measures to defend itself against planned attacks, it does not include similar provisions for Lebanon.
That marks a difference from the 2024 Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire agreement, which said: “(These) commitments do not prevent Israel or Lebanon from exercising their right to self-defense, which is consistent with international law.”
Notably, the agreement does not explicitly require Lebanon to disarm Hezbollah, although it does specify which of Lebanon’s six national security forces are allowed to carry weapons.
The disarmament of Hezbollah has been Israel’s greatest demand. The group rejects calls to disarm, viewing its weapons as a means of national defense against Israeli aggression.
The agreement also does not mean the end of the hundreds of thousands of Lebanese who fled the southern Litani area, some of whom have already started to return home.
What does Hezbollah say about the deal?
Hezbollah stopped firing on Israeli targets when the ceasefire began but stopped publicly supporting the deal.
It said that any ceasefire should not give Israel “freedom of movement” inside Lebanon and that the continued presence of Israeli troops on Lebanese soil gives the people “the right to resist.”
How did Lebanon’s last ceasefire deal end?
After a war sparked by Israel’s invasion of Gaza, Israel and Lebanon agreed in November 2024 to an open-ended, US-brokered accord that called for the Lebanese government to disarm Hezbollah.
That agreement also committed Lebanon to restricting arms to certain government forces, and stipulated that it must confiscate unauthorized weapons and prevent rearmament by non-state groups.
In June 2025, the US proposed a road map to Lebanese officials to completely disarm Hezbollah in order for Israel to stop its strikes and withdraw its troops from the five points it still holds in southern Lebanon.
But Hezbollah and its main Shi’ite ally, the Amal Movement led by Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, said the succession should be called off, as Israel withdraws and halts strikes ahead of any talks on Hezbollah’s arms.
After the 2024 agreement, Israel continued to carry out strikes on what it said were depots and Hezbollah fighters, in an attack Medecins Sans Frontiers said killed 370 people in Lebanon.
What about other ceasefires involving Israel?
In Gaza, Israel and Hamas agreed last October to a US agreement to stop fighting and bring aid to the area. It was followed by an American plan aimed at disarming Hamas in order to withdraw Israeli troops and rebuild Gaza, much of which was destroyed by Israeli bombing.
Many aspects of that plan have so far failed to materialize.
Israel has continued to attack Gaza, killing more than 750 Palestinians since the ceasefire. Israel says it intends to stop attacks by Hamas and other groups, but rarely provides concrete evidence.
At least four Israeli soldiers have been killed by Gaza militants since October.
