United States President Donald Trump said on Monday that Israel and Hezbollah agreed to halt fighting in Lebanon after weeks of escalation, though Israel quickly cast doubt on the truce.
Trump said on Truth Social that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had pledged to call off a threatened push into Beirut’s southern suburbs, and that troops already moving had turned back. Through intermediaries, he said, Hezbollah agreed to stop its attacks.
“Let’s see how long that lasts,” Trump wrote of the deal.
The doubts surfaced fast. Netanyahu said he had warned Trump that Israel would strike targets in Beirut if Hezbollah kept hitting Israeli towns, and that the army would press on in southern Lebanon. Minutes after Trump’s post, Israel reported missile launches from Lebanon.
The announcement followed an Iranian report, carried by the Tasnim news agency, that Tehran had suspended talks with mediators over Israel’s widening offensive against Hezbollah, its ally.
Trump gave conflicting signals on those talks. He told the broadcaster CNBC he was unbothered if they failed, saying the negotiations had grown dull, then posted that discussions with Iran were moving quickly.
The diplomacy unfolds months after the United States and Israel launched a joint offensive against Iran on February 28. Israel and Hezbollah had observed an earlier ceasefire since mid April before this latest flare up.
In Lebanon, many residents had fled the capital’s outskirts as Israel ordered evacuations ahead of expected strikes. Whether the understanding holds remained uncertain late on Monday.
