The Albany Gazette - Trump says Israel, Lebanon agree to ceasefire

Following what he called "excellent" phone calls with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Lebanese President Joseph Aoun, Trump said the truce would begin within hours.

"These two Leaders have agreed that in order to achieve PEACE between their Countries, they will formally begin a 10 Day CEASEFIRE at 5 P.M. EST," or 2100 GMT, Trump said on his Truth Social network.

The US leader said he had directed Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and top US military officer Dan Caine to work with the two countries "to achieve a Lasting PEACE."

Shortly afterward, Trump added that "I will be inviting the Prime Minister of Israel, Bibi Netanyahu, and the President of Lebanon, Joseph Aoun, to the White House."

The truce announcement comes amid Washington's continuing efforts to reach a deal to end the US-Israeli war with Iran. Tehran has insisted that a Lebanon ceasefire must be part of any agreement.

Lebanon was pulled into the Middle East war on March 2 after the Lebanon-based armed group Hezbollah, which is backed by Iran, attacked Israel.

Since then, Israeli strikes in Lebanon have killed more than 2,000 people and displaced more than a million, and Israeli ground forces have invaded the country's south.

A lawmaker from Hezbollah told AFP the group would "cautiously adhere" to the ceasefire if Israel stopped attacks.

Ibrahim al-Moussawi thanked Iran for having applied pressure in Lebanon's favor, adding that "the ceasefire would not have happened without Iran considering the ceasefire as equal to closing the Strait of Hormuz."

- 'Breathing room' -

The first signs of movement on Lebanon came when Trump said late Wednesday that Aoun and Netanyahu were due to speak on Thursday.

"Trying to get a little breathing room between Israel and Lebanon," Trump said Wednesday on his Truth Social platform, referring to the two countries' ambassadors meeting held in Washington the day before -- the first meeting of its kind since 1993.

But Aoun rejected the US request for a direct phone call with Netanyahu on Thursday, an official source told AFP.

Instead, Aoun's office confirmed a call during which he thanked the US leader for his "efforts" to secure a ceasefire with Israel.

Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam welcomed Trump's announcement of a ceasefire, saying a truce was a "key Lebanese demand that we have pursued since the very first day of the war" between Hezbollah and Israel. He also thanked European and Arab states for their involvement.

European Commission president Ursula Von Der Leyen hailed the ceasefire as "a relief."

But fighting on the ground continued right up until Trump's announcement.

The Lebanese army said Thursday that Israeli strikes that destroyed the Qasmiyeh bridge over the southern Litani River have cut off the area from the rest of the country.

The Israeli army on Thursday again called on civilians to evacuate the entire area of southern Lebanon up to the Zahrani River, about 40 kilometers (25 miles) north of the border.

Meanwhile, Lebanon's state-run National News Agency (NNA) reported clashes in Bint Jbeil, a town five kilometers from the border where Hezbollah fighters are battling the Israeli army.

The White House has said it is discussing a possible second round of talks with Iran in the Pakistani capital Islamabad, after a first round last weekend failed to produce a deal.

But a senior US administration official stressed that any end to the hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon was not part of talks between Washington and Tehran.

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(A.Johnson--TAG)