Israel And Lebanon Agree On A Ceasefire
- 4.06.2026, 8:58
Both sides agreed with the U.S. position.
Israel and Lebanon agreed to honor a ceasefire following talks in Washington, the U.S. State Department reported. "Both sides agreed to the United States' instructions to move swiftly to advance the establishment of pilot zones in which the Lebanese Armed Forces would assume exclusive control of the territory, excluding all non-state actors," the State Department said in a statement. It also states that Israel and Lebanon "confirmed the absence of hostile intentions toward each other and pledged to continue direct negotiations to build confidence."
In addition, during the meeting, the two sides discussed a security program that includes the elimination of non-state armed groups in Lebanon. This primarily refers to the terrorist Hezbollah. As the US State Department specified, Israel and Lebanon are to resume talks at the end of June to reach a comprehensive agreement.
The agreement between Tel Aviv and Beirut was preceded by a telephone conversation between US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu. The White House chief sharply criticized the Israeli prime minister over the escalating conflict in Lebanon and went on the mat to express his outrage.
According to an Axios source, Trump told Netanyahu, "You're fucking crazy! If it wasn't for me, you'd be in jail. I'm saving your ass. Now everybody hates you. Everybody hates Israel because of this." Another source told the publication that the White House chief was "furious" and at one point yelled at Netanyahu, "What the fuck are you doing?"
The American president and the Israeli prime minister have had tense phone conversations before, but this one was one of the toughest since Trump returned to the White House, the Axios source said. He said Trump knows Hezbollah is shelling Israel and the Israeli army needs to respond, but the White House chief believes Netanyahu has disproportionately stepped up strikes on Lebanon.
After his conversation with the Israeli prime minister, Trump wrote that he had agreed with Netanyahu to halt the military operation in Lebanon and also convinced Hezbollah's leadership to stop shelling Israel. A ceasefire in Lebanon is one of the conditions Iran has set for a truce with the US. Tehran had threatened to end talks with Washington after Israeli strikes on the country intensified.