The 10-day cease-fire between Israel and Lebanon appeared to hold Friday – hours after President Trump branded the truce a historic day for Lebanon.
Gunshots were fired in celebration in Beirut amid a cacophony of noise, while those displaced following Israel’s attacks on Hezbollah in the south of the country returned to their homes.
Revelers took to the streets – with some waving Hezbollah’s yellow flag and others carrying portraits of Hassan Nasrallah – the terror group’s leader who was killed by Israel in 2024.
The cease-fire came into force at midnight local time after the Israeli military hit 380 Hezbollah targets – including command centers and rocket launchers – in a single day.
The deal was struck following a call between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his Lebanese counterpart Joseph Aoun Thursday.
“May have been a historic day for Lebanon. Good things are happening!!!” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
There was a flurry of diplomatic activity in the build-up to the deal being struck.
Trump called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and he agreed to the pause, while Secretary of State Marco Rubio called Aoun.
Then, President Trump held a call with both leaders to secure the agreement.
Israeli and Lebanese officials met in Washington D.C. for the first time in 34 years — just two days before the deal was reached.
Israel and Lebanon have been ordered to engage in “good faith direct negotiations, facilitated by the United States, with the objective of achieving a comprehensive agreement that ensures lasting security, stability, and peace between the two countries,” according to the State Department.”
A White House official claimed Lebanon acknowledged Hezbollah is a problem for both Beirut and Israel, NBC News reported.
But, it still remains unclear if Israel will stop targeting Hezbollah during the cease-fire.
Netanyahu said troops won’t be withdrawn from southern Lebanon. He confirmed a security zone will extend six miles into Lebanon.
“That is where we are, and we are not leaving,” he said in a video address to the nation.
Hezbollah officials acknowledged the truce, but didn’t confirm if they would follow it.
The militant group says that Lebanese people have “the right to resist” Israeli occupation of their land and that their actions “will be determined based on how developments unfold.”
In a message to “the people of the resistance,” chiefs urged those who have been displaced not to return to their homes for safety reasons.
Trump said he hopes Hezbollah “acts nicely and well” during the cease-fire.
“It will be [a] great moment for them if they do. No more killing. Must finally have peace!” he said on Truth Social.
Israel and Hezbollah have fought several wars and have been fighting on and off since the day after the start of the Gaza war in October 2023.
Israel and Lebanon reached a deal to end that war in November 2024, but the Jewish State’s forces have kept up near-daily strikes in what it says is an effort to prevent the militant group from regrouping.
The cease-fire framework ensures Israel’s right of self-defense, but calls on Lebanon to take all “meaningful steps” to stop Hezbollah from carrying out attacks on Israeli targets.
With Post wires.
