Trump says Israel, Lebanon agree to extend Hezbollah ceasefire by three weeks – National
US President Donald Trump said Israel and Lebanon agreed to extend the truce between Israel and Hezbollah for three weeks after talks at the White House on Thursday.
Trump said the meeting between the Israeli and Lebanese ambassadors to the United States went “very well.” This meeting was the second high-level discussion between the two countries since last week. The initial 10-day suspension, which began last Friday, was supposed to end on Monday.
“The United States will work with Lebanon to help defend itself against Hezbollah,” Trump said on social media. He added that he looked forward to meeting in person with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Lebanese President Joseph Aoun “in the near future.”
Trump greeted Lebanese Ambassador Nada Hamadeh Moawad and his Israeli counterpart Yechiel Leiter upon their arrival. Besides Trump, the US was represented by Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, State Department adviser Michael Needham, Israeli Ambassador Mike Huckabee and Lebanese Ambassador Michel Issa.
“We hope that together, under your leadership, we can formalize peace between Israel and Lebanon in the near future,” Leiter said in the Oval Office.
“I really want to thank the United States, under your leadership, for all your efforts to help and support Lebanon,” Hamadeh told Trump. “And I think that with your help, with your support, we can make Lebanon beautiful.”
Aoun said on Wednesday that Hamadeh would extend the suspension by 10 days. He will also call for an end to the demolition of Israeli homes in villages and towns occupied by Israel after the latest war that broke out on March 2, Aoun said in interviews released by his office.
Arrangements are being made for wide-ranging talks between Lebanon and Israel. The aim of the upcoming talks is to stop “completely” Israeli attacks, the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Lebanon, the release of Lebanese prisoners held in Israel, the deployment of Lebanese troops along the border and the start of the reconstruction process, Aoun said.
Israel’s Foreign Minister Gideon Saar has asked Lebanon to work with Israel to disarm the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah.
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“We don’t have serious disagreements with Lebanon. There are minor border disputes that can be resolved,” Saar said when he spoke on Independence Day to Israeli embassies and Israeli officials and described the neighboring country as “a failed state.”
“The obstacle to peace and normalization between countries is one: Hezbollah,” he said, adding that Lebanon could have “a future of sovereignty, independence and freedom from Iran’s rule.”
The latest war began when Hezbollah fired rockets into northern Israel, two days after Israel and the US launched an attack on Iran. Israel responded with a bombardment of Lebanon and a ground attack in which it captured dozens of border towns and villages.
Israeli forces currently occupy a buffer zone 10 kilometers (6 miles) south of Lebanon. Israel says it aims to eliminate the threat of short-range rockets and anti-tank missiles fired into northern Israel.
Hezbollah rejected the talks. Wafiq Safa, a senior member of the group’s political council, told The Associated Press that it will not abide by any agreements made during the talks.
Despite this, the talks are a major step for two countries that have no diplomatic relations and have been at war since Israel was founded in 1948.
The Lebanese government hopes that the talks will pave the way for a permanent end to the war. While Iran has put an end to hostilities in Lebanon and the region as a condition of negotiations with the US, Lebanon insists on independence.
Since the start of the operation last week, there have been many violations on both sides.
On Wednesday, Amal Khalil, a well-known Lebanese journalist reporting from southern Lebanon, was killed by an Israeli strike. Health officials in Lebanon said Israeli soldiers opened fire on an ambulance that arrived at the scene, preventing rescuers from reaching him. His body was pulled from the rubble of the collapsed building a few hours later.
Israel’s military has denied that it deliberately targeted journalists or shot rescuers, but the case sparked widespread anger in Lebanon ahead of talks in Washington.
After a cabinet meeting on Thursday, Lebanon’s Deputy Prime Minister Tarek Mitri said the government is working on a report documenting alleged war crimes committed by Israel and that ministers have discussed joining the International Criminal Court.
The recent Israel-Hezbollah war has killed around 2,300 people in Lebanon, including hundreds of women and children, and displaced more than a million people.
Last week’s talks were the first between Israel and Lebanon since 1993. Both countries rely on indirect communications, often facilitated by the US or UNIFIL, the United Nations peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon.
Lebanon’s political authorities, criticizing Hezbollah’s decision to fire rockets at Israel on March 2 in cooperation with Iran, immediately proposed direct talks in an effort to stop this escalation, hoping that Israel would not launch its attack.
© 2026 The Canadian Press
