US President Donald Trump said the ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon will be extended for three weeks, following his meeting with envoys from the two countries, even as violence resumes along the Israeli-Lebanese border.
“The meeting went very well!”,Trump wrote on his Truth Social network on 23 April.
“The United States is going to work with Lebanon to help it defend itself against Hezbollah.” The ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon will be extended for three weeks,” he added. The ceasefire was due to end on 26 April.
Iran-backed Hezbollah, a militant group and political party that controls much of southern Lebanon, is considered a terrorist organisation in the US, while the EU has blacklisted only its armed wing.
The Lebanese government is not an active participant in the conflict and has promised to disarm Hezbollah.
Trump said he looked forward to meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Lebanese President Joseph Aoun “soon”.
The US president said himself, Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, as well as the US ambassadors to Israel and Lebanon, were among those who met with “senior representatives” of Israel and Lebanon.
Lebanon’s ambassador to the US, Nada Hamadeh Moawad, and Israel’s ambassador to the US, Yehiel Leiter, represented their countries in the talks.
Trump’s statements came even as violence erupted near the Israel-Lebanon border, with both sides opening fire after accusations of violating a 10-day ceasefire already in place, which was announced on 16 April. That day, Trump said, marked the first talks between the leaders of Israel and Lebanon since 1993.
On 9 April, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel wanted direct talks with Lebanon “as soon as possible”.
Before that, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said that “the only solution to the situation in Lebanon is to achieve a ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon and then direct talks between them.”
Netanyahu in March rejected the offer of direct talks with Lebanon. His 9 April statement came amid widespread international criticism of the Israeli strikes, which Tehran says violate a ceasefire agreement the US and Iran reached on the night of 8 April. The US and Israel argue that the agreement does not apply to Lebanon.