Trump says Israel, Lebanon agree to 10-day ceasefire after U.S. talks

The 10-day ceasefire Donald Trump announced looked less like a settled peace than a fragile pause. It was set to begin at 5 p.m. Eastern time, but the hardest question remained unanswered: whether an agreement involving Lebanon’s government can actually stop the fighting with Hezbollah, the armed group that has driven the war and is not the Lebanese state.

Trump said he spoke with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu before announcing the truce on social media. He also said he planned to invite both men to the White House, calling it the first meaningful Israel-Lebanon talks since 1983. What would count as a violation was plain enough on the ground: any renewed Israeli strikes or Hezbollah attacks during the 10-day window would test whether the pause was real or only a temporary political announcement.

The announcement followed an April 14 trilateral meeting in Washington with representatives of the United States, Lebanon and Israel. The State Department said the session was the first major high-level engagement between the two governments since 1993 and was meant to launch direct negotiations. U.S. officials also said they hoped the talks could go beyond the 2024 cessation-of-hostilities arrangement. Lebanon, for its part, was seeking a ceasefire and steps to address a severe humanitarian crisis.

The broader conflict has already exacted a heavy toll. According to the Associated Press, more than a month of war between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group in Lebanon has killed more than 2,100 people and displaced over 1 million in Lebanon. Hezbollah attacks have killed at least 12 Israeli soldiers and two civilians. Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam welcomed Trump’s ceasefire announcement, while Israeli and Hezbollah leaders did not immediately comment.

The diplomatic machinery now appears to be moving faster than the battlefield can absorb it. Trump’s announcement, the Washington talks and the planned White House meeting point to an aggressive U.S. effort to turn back-channel contact into direct negotiations. Whether that becomes a durable ceasefire, a tactical pause or another short-lived announcement will depend on whether both sides can restrain forces that have already made the border one of the region’s most volatile fronts.