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BEIRUT – A 10-day ceasefire deal agreed between Lebanon and Israel took effect on April 16, as US President Donald Trump said he was trying to set up the first-ever meeting between the leaders of the two countries.
The truce, which Mr Trump said would begin at midnight local time in Lebanon and Israel (2100 GMT, 5am Friday, Singapore time), comes as Washington steps up efforts to reach a deal to end the war with Iran, with Tehran insisting a Lebanon truce must be part of any agreement.
The Middle East war began when the United States and Israel attacked Iran on Feb 28, and Lebanon was pulled in when Hezbollah fired rockets at Israel on March 2.
Since then, Israeli strikes in Lebanon have killed more than 2,000 people and displaced upwards of a million, while Israeli ground forces have invaded the country’s south.
The US leader said the deal to halt hostilities came after “excellent” phone calls with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Lebanese President Joseph Aoun.
“These two Leaders have agreed that in order to achieve PEACE between their Countries, they will formally begin a 10 Day CEASEFIRE at 5 P.M. EST,” or 2100 GMT, Mr Trump said on his Truth Social network.
He later said he expected Mr Netanyahu and Mr Aoun to visit the White House “over the next four or five days”.
It would be the first time the leaders of Israel and Lebanon have ever met.
An Israeli hospital spokesman said three people were injured on April 16, shortly before the truce began.
An Israeli strike on the southern Lebanese town of Ghazieh killed at least seven people and wounded 33, Lebanon’s health ministry said earlier on April 16.
Mr Netanyahu said the ceasefire with Lebanon offered an opportunity for a “historic peace agreement” with Beirut – but insisted disarmament of militant group Hezbollah remained a precondition.
Mr Trump said Hezbollah was included in the ceasefire, but according to the US State Department the truce committed Lebanon itself to dismantle the Iran-backed militant group.
In Beirut, housewife Jamal Shehab, 61, applauded the truce.
“We are very happy that a ceasefire has been reached in Lebanon because we are tired of war and we want safety and peace,” she said.
Sitting at a cafe in Beirut, lawyer Tarek Bou Khalil told AFP that “it’s well known Trump cannot be taken at his word, and Netanyahu cannot be trusted”.
“But we know that the result of the pressures of the war with Iran and the blunders of Netanyahu and the enemy army in south Lebanon, forced them into a ceasefire,” he added.
Mr Trump spoke about the ceasefire with reporters as he left the White House for a trip to Las Vegas.
“It’s very exciting,” Mr Trump said in response to a question from an AFP reporter. “Today they’re going to be having a ceasefire, and that’ll include Hezbollah.”
Mr Trump later said Lebanon would “take care of Hezbollah”, adding that he believed the Tehran-backed group would stick to the ceasefire.
A Hezbollah lawmaker told AFP it would “cautiously adhere” to the ceasefire if Israel stopped attacks.
Ibrahim al-Moussawi thanked Iran for having applied pressure in Lebanon’s favour – adding that “the ceasefire would not have happened without Iran considering the ceasefire as equal to closing the Strait of Hormuz.”
Mr Netanyahu said Israel agreed to the truce but will maintain a 10-km “security zone” along the border in southern Lebanon.
He added that Israel maintained two conditions for the ceasefire: Hezbollah’s disarmament, and a lasting peace agreement “based on strength.”
Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam welcomed Mr Trump’s announcement of a ceasefire, saying a truce was a “key Lebanese demand that we have pursued since the very first day of the war” between Hezbollah and Israel.
Ahead of the ceasefire, Mr Aoun’s office thanked Mr Trump for his “efforts” to secure the truce. But the Lebanese president rejectedMr Trump’s request for a direct call with Mr Netanyahu, an official source told AFP.
The ceasefire comes after the Israeli and Lebanese ambassadors met in Washington this week – the first meeting of its kind since 1993.
That truce could also boost Mr Trump’s continuing efforts to reach a deal to end the war with Iran.
Mr Trump said Washington was “very close” to a peace deal with Iran after six weeks of war and might travel to Pakistan to sign any agreement.
But fighting between Israel and Hezbollah continued right up until the truce began. AFP
