Israel and Lebanon agree to ceasefire, US says

Israel and Lebanon have agreed to implement a ceasefire to end hostilities, the Trump administration has announced, as the US looks to overcome one of the largest barriers to reaching a broader deal to end the war with Iran.

The Israel-Lebanon ceasefire is contingent on a complete cessation of fire from the Iran-aligned Hezbollah militia and the evacuation of all its operatives from the country’s south, a joint statement released by the US state department said after negotiations in Washington.

The two sides, which do not have formal diplomatic relations, also agreed to create “pilot zones” in which the Lebanese armed forces “will take exclusive control of the territory to the exclusion of all non-state actors”.

A Hezbollah official told the AFP news agency on Tuesday that the group would “not accept a partial ceasefire”, and the group has not been party to the talks.

A truce to halt the fighting in Lebanon was meant to take hold on 17 April, but hostilities continued, with both sides justifying their ongoing attacks by the other’s alleged violations.

The meetings in Washington were the fourth round of direct talks by Lebanese and Israeli diplomats since fighting erupted on 2 March, when Hezbollah renewed attacks against Israel in support of Iran.

Wednesday’s development came after continued cross-border attacks earlier in the day, with Hezbollah saying it targeted Israeli troops, and Israeli strikes killing at least nine people in southern Lebanon.

Earlier in the day, US president Donald Trump said he wanted to separate talks on the conflict in Lebanon and those on the war with Iran. However, Tehran insists the conflicts are linked and this week threatened to suspend peace talks with the US in protest against Israel’s offensive in Lebanon, threatening the collapse of negotiations with Washington.

Trump said on Monday that he had stopped an imminent Israeli strike on Beirut and had spoken to Netanyahu and representatives of Hezbollah who agreed that “all shooting will stop”.

Trump confirmed reports that he had described Netanyahu as “crazy”, saying he was “a little bit perturbed” that Israel’s campaign against Hezbollah in Lebanon was complicating US-led efforts to advance peace talks with Iran.

According to analysts, Israel wants to inflict as much damage as possible on Hezbollah before a potential peace deal with Iran stops its offensive. Netanyahu told CNBC on Wednesday that he and Trump were aligned on the goal of disarming Hezbollah in order to achieve peace between Israel and Lebanon.

The US president is under pressure to resolve the Iran war as higher energy prices and economic uncertainty threaten Republican prospects in the midterm elections and hamper global commerce.

On Wednesday the US House of Representatives delivered a stunning rebuke to Trump, with representatives backing a move to force him to seek approval from Congress for the war or withdraw US forces. The vote’s impact was largely symbolic, as it is unclear whether the resolution carries the force of law, even if it were to pass the Senate.

Among the Israeli strikes on Wednesday was one in the immediate vicinity of the public hospital in Tebnine, just days after strikes next to the Hiram and Jabal Amel hospitals in Tyre. The attack next to Jabal Amel on Monday killed four people and injured 127 – most of whom were medical staff.

The state-run National News Agency (NNA) also reported strikes on more than 20 locations in the south, some after Israel’s military warned residents of several villages to evacuate.

The Lebanese health ministry said an Israeli strike elsewhere in the south targeted an ambulance, killing two paramedics from the Risala Scouts Association, which is affiliated with Hezbollah’s ally the Amal movement.

Elsewhere on Wednesday, Iran struck Kuwait, killing one person, damaging its airport and injuring dozens while the US military carried out strikes near the strait of Hormuz.

The attacks on Kuwait and in the strait are the latest to test a shaky ceasefire between the US, Israel and Iran, sending oil prices up nearly 2%, as the strait remains largely closed more than three months after the war was launched.

Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards said they did not fire at Kuwait’s airport and blamed the destruction on US interceptor missiles that failed to hit their targets, according to Iranian state media. The US military said that was not accurate, and that Iranian drones targeted the airport deliberately.

With Reuters and Agence France-Presse