Israel and Lebanon agree to renewed ceasefire terms

Israel and Lebanon have agreed to renew a U.S.-brokered ceasefire aimed at stopping weeks of deadly fighting between Israel and Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, the governments said Wednesday, in a deal tied to the Iran-backed militia halting attacks and leaving parts of the south.

The agreement, announced after two days of talks in Washington, is contingent on what a joint statement from the Israeli, Lebanese and American governments described as a complete cessation of Hezbollah fire and the evacuation of its operatives from a swath of southern Lebanon. Israel is not in direct conflict with Lebanon’s armed forces, and Hezbollah was not a party to the talks.

The statement said the sides also agreed to establish “pilot zones” where the Lebanese military would take control “to the exclusion of all non-state actors.” Israel and Lebanon, which do not have formal diplomatic relations, agreed to hold another round of talks in about three weeks “with a view toward reaching a comprehensive agreement.”

“All countries reaffirmed that the future of the relationship between Israel and Lebanon must be decided by the two sovereign governments,” the statement said. “They rejected any attempt, by any state or non-state actor, to hold Lebanon’s future hostage.”

A Hezbollah official told Agence France-Presse on Tuesday that the group would “not accept a partial ceasefire,” The Guardian reported. Hezbollah, backed by Iran and influential within Lebanon’s Shiite community, has long operated outside full state control, and the Lebanese government has struggled to force it to disarm.

The Washington meetings were the fourth round of direct talks by Lebanese and Israeli diplomats since fighting erupted on March 2, when Hezbollah renewed attacks against Israel in support of Iran, according to The Guardian. A previous truce was meant to take effect April 17, but fighting continued, with each side accusing the other of violations.

Hostilities were still underway Wednesday before the announcement. Hezbollah said it targeted Israeli troops, while Israeli strikes killed at least nine people in southern Lebanon, The Guardian reported. The outlet also reported Israeli strikes on more than 20 locations in the south, including one near the public hospital in Tebnine. A strike next to Jabal Amel hospital in Tyre on Monday killed four people and injured 127, most of them medical staff, and the Lebanese Health Ministry said another Israeli strike Wednesday hit an ambulance, killing two paramedics from the Risala Scouts Association, which is affiliated with Hezbollah’s ally Amal.

The fighting has displaced more than 1 million people in Lebanon, a country of just under 6 million, according to the Lebanese government. More than 3,000 deaths have been reported in Lebanon since fighting began in early March, and dozens of Israeli deaths have been reported, according to both countries’ governments.

The Lebanon fighting has complicated U.S.-led diplomacy aimed at ending the war with Iran. Tehran has insisted that any agreement ending the U.S. and Israel’s war with Iran include an end to fighting in Lebanon. An Iranian news agency said earlier this week that Iran had suspended indirect talks with Washington because of Israel’s operations in Lebanon, though President Donald Trump said negotiations were continuing.

Trump said Monday that he had stopped an imminent Israeli strike on Beirut and that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and representatives of Hezbollah had agreed that “all shooting will stop.” Netanyahu later said he told Trump the Israeli military would strike targets in Beirut “if Hezbollah does not cease attacking our cities and citizens.”

Trump confirmed reports that he had described Netanyahu as “crazy,” saying he was “a little bit perturbed” by Israel’s campaign in Lebanon. Asked about the exchange on the New York Post’s “Pod Force One” podcast, Trump said he told Netanyahu, “we gotta stop this.”

Netanyahu told CNBC on Wednesday that he and Trump were aligned on the goal of disarming Hezbollah to achieve peace between Israel and Lebanon, The Guardian reported.