Trump Announces Israel-Lebanon 10-Day Ceasefire

US President Donald Trump announced on Thursday a 10-day ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon, marking a significant diplomatic breakthrough after weeks of intense Israeli strikes that have killed thousands of Lebanese people and displaced more than a million.

The ceasefire, which is expected to halt Israeli attacks and fighting with the Iran-backed Hezbollah group, will begin at midnight in Lebanon and Israel (5pm EST), Mr Trump said on his social platform, Truth Social.

"I just had excellent conversations with the Highly Respected President Joseph Aoun, of Lebanon, and Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu, of Israel," Mr Trump wrote. "These two Leaders have agreed that in order to achieve peace between their countries, they will formally begin a 10-day ceasefire at 5pm EST."

The US President added that he has invited the Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the White House for "meaningful talks" - which would be the first such discussions between the countries since 1983.

"I will be inviting the Prime Minister of Israel and the President of Lebanon to the White House for the first meaningful talks between Israel and Lebanon since 1983, a very long time ago," Trump stated. "Both sides want to see peace, and I believe that will happen quickly."

Mr Trump said he had directed Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and military chief of staff Gen Dan Caine to "work with Israel and Lebanon to achieve a lasting peace."

In Lebanon, Prime Minister Nawaf Salam welcomed the ceasefire, calling it a long-standing Lebanese priority and the main objective of recent talks in Washington. He described it as a major achievement and credited international and regional efforts for securing the deal, particularly those of the US, France, the EU and Arab states including Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Qatar and Jordan.

However, there was no immediate comment from Hezbollah or from the Israeli government or army regarding the announcement.

The announcement came amid ongoing Israeli military operations in Lebanon, where recent strikes have caused significant civilian infrastructure damage. Lebanese state media reported that an Israeli strike destroyed the last bridge linking southern Lebanon to the rest of the country, targeting the Qasmiya Bridge that connects the Tyre area to the city of Sidon.

In another incident, Israeli forces struck the only operational hospital in southern Lebanon. Staff at the Tibnin Governmental Hospital were wounded in the attack on Wednesday night, which caused significant damage to the emergency department, according to the International Committee of the Red Cross in Lebanon.

The current conflict resumed on March 2 this year after Hezbollah launched rockets at Israel, saying it was avenging the killing of Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in Israel-US strikes and responding to more than a year of ceasefire breaches. At least 2,000 people, including more than 170 children, have been killed in Lebanon since then, according to Lebanese authorities.

The diplomatic efforts come alongside Pakistani mediation aimed at securing a new round of talks between the US and Iran, which has said that ending the war against Lebanon and its ally Hezbollah is essential for such diplomacy to succeed.

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