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06-06-2026
WASHINGTON: United States President Donald Trump says Israel and Hezbollah have agreed to halt attacks following indirect talks through intermediaries.
Posting on Truth Social on Monday, Trump said he had spoken with both Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and, through “highly placed representatives”, Hezbollah.
“I had a very good call with Hezbollah, and they agreed that all shooting will stop that Israel will not attack them, and they will not attack Israel,” he wrote.
No US president has ever spoken with Hezbollah, either directly or via intermediaries. At present, Washington has designated the group as a “terrorist” organization.
According to statements from Lebanon’s embassy in Washington, the proposal would see Hezbollah stop attacks on Israel in exchange for Israel halting strikes on Beirut and its southern suburbs.
Trump also said Netanyahu had agreed to pull back any Israeli troops preparing to attack the Lebanese capital, Beirut. Separately, Netanyahu said he had discussed this with Trump but that Israel would push ahead with plans to strike Beirut if Hezbollah makes any further attacks on Israel.
Why does this announcement matter for the war on Iran?
Iran has stated that one of its conditions for any agreement on ending the war with the US is that Israel withdraw from Lebanon.
The Iran-backed armed group, Hezbollah, which is based in Lebanon, began firing on northern Israel after the first US-Israeli strikes on Tehran at the end of February.
Until then, the Iran-backed group had not attacked Israel since a November 2024 ceasefire was announced, despite near-daily breaches of the agreement by Israel.
Since early March, Israel has continued to launch near-daily attacks on Lebanon and currently occupies about one-fifth of the country.
According to the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health, more than 3,412 people have been killed and 10,269 wounded in Israeli attacks on the country since March 2.
The escalation has displaced more than one million people in Lebanon and raised fears that Israel could launch deeper operations towards Beirut.
On Sunday, Iranian state media reported that Tehran was suspending message exchanges with Washington in protest.
Following Trump’s announcement on Monday, Lebanon’s UN Ambassador Ahmad Arafa commended the Trump administration for “constructive efforts aimed at giving diplomacy a chance”.
The announcement is also significant because previous ceasefire attempts between Israel and Lebanon have repeatedly collapsed. A 10-day truce announced on April 22, and later extended by three weeks, failed to produce a halt in fighting.
How have Hezbollah, Israel responded to Trump’s announcement?
On Monday, Netanyahu’s office said Israel would reserve the right to strike Beirut if Hezbollah attacks continue.
“If Hezbollah does not cease attacking our cities and citizens … Israel will attack terror targets in Beirut,” he said.
On Monday, Israel’s military issued new forced displacement orders, warning residents of the southern suburbs to flee to “preserve their safety”, reiterating that if Hezbollah continues to target Israel with rockets, Israeli forces would attack Beirut’s Dahiyeh area.
On Tuesday morning, there had been no reports of Israeli attacks on the Lebanese capital. However, Israel has continued attacks on southern Lebanon, firing artillery near Nabatieh and hitting the villages of Choukine and Kfar Tibnit, media reported. (Int’l Monitoring Desk)
