President Donald Trump announced Thursday that a 10-day ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon will begin at midnight Israel time, following direct diplomatic intervention that included separate conversations with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Lebanese President Joseph Aoun. The agreement marks the first direct talks between Israeli and Lebanese leaders in 43 years, with Trump inviting both to the White House for negotiations.
Presidential Diplomacy and Security Terms
Trump said on Truth Social that "both sides want to see peace, and I believe that will happen, quickly!" Netanyahu hailed the ceasefire as "an opportunity to make a historic peace agreement with Lebanon," adding that "we have changed the balance of security." Israel will maintain a security buffer stretching 10 kilometers into southern Lebanon for the duration of the ceasefire to deter threats posed by Hezbollah. When asked in a security cabinet meeting what led to Israel's decision to agree to a ceasefire, Netanyahu said, "It's a Trump request," according to one report. The Jerusalem Post reported that an Israeli source said Trump and Netanyahu held at least one phone call during the day, and that in recent days there had been no pressure from Israel for a ceasefire, only requests by Trump and other officials to minimize Israeli strikes in Lebanon.
Lebanese Preconditions and Iranian Linkage
The ceasefire came after Lebanon's president clarified to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and other senior American officials that a call with Netanyahu would not take place without progress in negotiations. According to two sources familiar with the details, Aoun told Rubio and others, "There is only value in such a phone call between leaders when there is significant progress on the ground. Without real negotiations underway, and certainly without a ceasefire, I will not hold a call with Netanyahu at this time." Aoun emphasized he was not ruling out a future call with the prime minister, but that something meaningful must happen first. These remarks led to a conversation between Aoun and Trump, during which Trump promised his Lebanese counterpart that "there will be a ceasefire."
Iran has been pressuring the United States to advance a ceasefire in Lebanon, with senior Iranian officials making clear to mediators that without a ceasefire in Lebanon, there is no chance of progress in talks between Iran and the United States. Pakistan's Army Chief Asim Munir, who was in Iran and in direct contact with Trump and Vice President JD Vance, conveyed that message to Washington. An Israeli source told The Jerusalem Post, "This is what should really concern us, the fact that Iran has managed to link the negotiations over Lebanon with the negotiations over Iran." The Jerusalem Post also reported that Iran had set the ceasefire in Lebanon as a precondition for holding negotiations with the United States, with Israel publicly opposing Tehran's demand.
Domestic Opposition and Security Concerns
Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid criticized the ceasefire, describing it as "all the promises of this government... crashing against the ground of reality." He said the war with Lebanon can only end by fully and permanently removing the threat to Israel's northern border communities. Lapid said, "In this government, it will no longer happen; we will do it in the next government." Yisrael Beytenu chairperson MK Avigdor Liberman condemned the ceasefire as a "betrayal," saying, "The government of October 7 learned nothing." He added, "Once again, Hezbollah is being given time to recover and strengthen itself. The war must not be ended without a clear decision and the elimination of Hezbollah. Otherwise, the next round is just a matter of time, at a much heavier price and under much worse conditions." Former IDF chief of staff Gadi Eisenkot, leader of Yashar!, said he thought the ceasefire was "a bad omen," adding, "And it stems from the way in which Netanyahu, as prime minister, does not know how to realize the military achievements into political achievements, and therefore a ceasefire is being forced upon us for the third time."
Netanyahu did not ask for the security cabinet's approval when he informed them of the ceasefire in Lebanon, and only held an urgent conference call after Trump's announcement. Netanyahu presented the cabinet with the cessation of the war in southern Lebanon as a fait accompli, not asking the ministers to serve as a "rubber stamp" as he did in previous times.
Ground Situation and Final Hours
Haaretz reported that the Lebanese Armed Forces warned citizens to avoid Israeli-occupied areas in southern Lebanon and urged the public to exercise caution. In a statement, the LAF said, "Amid circulating news regarding a cease-fire agreement being reached, the military leadership calls on citizens to exercise restraint in returning to the southern villages and towns until the agreement enters into force, and urges not to approach the areas infiltrated by Israeli occupation forces." It added that citizens must "adhere to the military's directives to preserve their safety, exercise caution and report unexploded ordnance and suspicious objects left after Israeli attacks to the nearest military center."
Shrapnel from a Hezbollah rocket barrage severely wounded a 25-year-old man in Carmiel, northern Israel, after 10 rockets were fired from Lebanon, two hours before the cease-fire was expected to go into effect. The Israeli military reported that ten rockets were fired from Lebanon toward the area, that it intercepted eight and that two others hit open areas. Five rockets were fired toward Nahariya along northern Israel's coast, with Israeli air defenses intercepting four, and the military expected more rocket fire in the coming hour ahead of the cease-fire taking effect at midnight.
Hezbollah said the ceasefire must not allow Israel freedom of movement and stated that the presence of Israeli troops in Lebanese territory grants the Lebanese the "right to resist." Hezbollah ally and speaker of Lebanon's Parliament Nabih Berri urged Lebanese to "postpone their return to their towns and villages until the situation becomes clearer, in accordance with the ceasefire agreement." Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam welcomed the ceasefire agreement in a post on X/Twitter, saying the pause in fighting was Lebanon's "primary goal in the Washington meeting on Tuesday." Salam wrote, "I congratulate all Lebanese on this achievement," and thanked regional and international partners who helped achieve the ceasefire.
President of the EU Commission Ursula von der Leyen said, "I welcome the announced 10-day ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon, mediated by President Trump." She said, "This is a relief, as this conflict has already claimed far too many lives." Von der Leyen added, "Now, we need not just a temporary pause, but a path to permanent peace. Europe will continue to call for the full respect of Lebanon's sovereignty and territorial integrity. And we will keep supporting the Lebanese people through substantial humanitarian aid."
Why This Matters:
The 10-day ceasefire represents a test of whether American diplomatic pressure can produce lasting security arrangements in the Middle East, but the agreement's structure raises significant concerns about strategic coherence and national security. Iran's success in linking Lebanon ceasefire negotiations to broader talks with the United States demonstrates how adversarial regimes can leverage temporary pauses to advance strategic objectives, potentially constraining American and Israeli freedom of action. The domestic Israeli opposition's warnings that Hezbollah will use the pause to regroup reflect legitimate concerns about whether short-term diplomatic wins translate into durable security outcomes. Israel's maintenance of a 10-kilometer security buffer acknowledges the continuing terrorist threat, while Hezbollah's assertion of a "right to resist" Israeli presence signals that the fundamental security challenge remains unresolved. The 43-year gap since direct Israeli-Lebanese leadership talks underscores both the diplomatic opportunity and the depth of unresolved conflicts that a 10-day pause cannot address without clear mechanisms for enforcement and verification.