Israel and Hezbollah have agreed to a ceasefire in Lebanon, which is set to take effect Friday at 16 p.m. local time. The agreement follows a sharp increase in fighting overnight and into the morning, marked by Israeli airstrikes in Lebanon and a deadly Hezbollah attack on Israeli soldiers.
A senior US official indicated that American and Qatari negotiators had worked on the agreement with Iranian assistance. Hezbollah, the Lebanese movement backed by Tehran, was directly involved in the discussions, as the escalation in Lebanon threatened to derail broader diplomatic efforts in the Middle East.
18 dead in Lebanon, four Israeli soldiers killed
The truce begins after a particularly violent night. Israeli strikes killed at least 18 people in Lebanon, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Health. Meanwhile, four Israeli soldiers were killed in southern Lebanon in an attack attributed to Hezbollah, one of the deadliest incidents for the Israeli army in this phase of the conflict.
Before the ceasefire was announced, Israel had hardened its stance. Benjamin Netanyahu stated that Israel would not tolerate any attacks against its soldiers or its territory and that Hezbollah would pay "a very heavy price." The Israeli prime minister also reiterated that the army would remain in the security zone in southern Lebanon for as long as necessary.
Beirut demands a total ceasefire
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun condemned the Israeli escalation in the Bekaa Valley and southern Lebanon. He affirmed his commitment to continuing efforts to achieve a comprehensive ceasefire, presented as a prerequisite for any discussions on other issues: Israeli withdrawal, deployment of the Lebanese army, and the return of prisoners.
Hezbollah, for its part, accused Israel of not respecting any ceasefires since November 2024. The movement stated that it would remain vigilant towards Israel, while denouncing the strikes against Lebanese villages.
Washington-Tehran talks disrupted
The escalation in Lebanon has had an immediate impact on regional diplomacy. Talks between the United States and Iran, scheduled for Friday in Switzerland, have been canceled. They were to focus on consolidating an interim agreement aimed at ending the wider war in the Middle East and securing the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz to international maritime traffic.
A Hezbollah official had previously indicated that Iran had informed the movement that talks with Washington could not continue without the implementation of a comprehensive ceasefire. The Iranian Foreign Ministry accused the United States of bearing direct responsibility for Israeli attacks against Lebanon and asserted that Tehran would take the necessary measures to protect its interests.
A ceasefire has been announced, but it remains fragile.
The announcement establishes a cessation of hostilities, but the precise details remain limited at this stage. The duration of the truce, the monitoring mechanisms, and the guarantees of withdrawal or non-resumption of strikes have not been publicly detailed. The central point remains the effective cessation of fighting on the ground, after several previous agreements were contested or broken by the belligerents.
The ceasefire now places Israel, Hezbollah, Lebanon, Iran, the United States and Qatar in front of an immediate deadline: to hold the truce after a sequence of violence that has already caused deaths on both sides of the border.
