US President Donald Trump said on Thursday that Israel and Lebanon had agreed to a 10-day ceasefire starting at 5 pm ET (2100 GMT), marking a pause in Israel’s conflict with Iran-backed Hezbollah that has raged at the same time as the war with Iran.A U.S. official said the ceasefire would begin on Thursday. Israel’s actions in Lebanon have become a major obstacle to Trump’s pursuit of a peace deal to end the war with Iraq he launched with Israel in late February. U.S. and Iranian officials are considering a second round of face-to-face talks in Islamabad in the coming days, where a halt to fighting in Lebanon could clear the way for a deal on other thorny issues including Tehran’s nuclear ambitions.Pakistan’s foreign ministry earlier said peace in Lebanon was crucial to the talks it was brokering.Trump said he had great conversations with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Netanyahu said in a video statement that he had agreed to a 10-day pause and a chance to reach a historic deal with Lebanon. But there is uncertainty over whether a truce can be reached between arch-rivals Israel and Hezbollah.Netanyahu said in a video address that he did not agree to Hezbollah’s demand to withdraw the troops deployed in southern Lebanon to the international border between the two countries and would maintain a broad “safe zone” all the way to the border with Syria. He added that Israel’s main demand remains that Hezbollah must be disbanded.In its first comments since Trump’s announcement, Hezbollah said any ceasefire must not allow Israel to move freely inside Lebanon. The group said in a statement issued by its media office that the presence of Israeli forces on Lebanese soil gives Lebanon and its people “the right to resist.”Trump said he had directed U.S. Vice President Vance, Secretary of State Rubio and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Dan Kaine to work with both countries to achieve a lasting peace. “Both sides want to see peace and I’m sure it will happen soon!” he said in a post on Truth Social. He also said that the leaders of the two countries could meet at the White House. “It’s very exciting. I think we’re going to make a deal, we’re going to have a meeting, for the first time in 44 years, Lebanon is going to meet with Israel, and they’re going to have a meeting at the White House probably in the next week or two,” Trump said.This is a Reuters report
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