Israel and Lebanon agree to conditional ceasefire | News

Israel and Lebanon have agreed to implement a ceasefire but say it would require a “complete cessation” of fire by Hezbollah, according to a joint statement after US-led talks in Washington, DC.

The two countries, which do not have formal diplomatic relations, also agreed on Wednesday to create “pilot zones” in which the Lebanese armed forces “will take exclusive control of the territory to the exclusion of all non-state actors”.

The development came despite continued cross-border attacks earlier in the day as Hezbollah said it targeted Israeli soldiers and Israeli strikes killed at least 10 people in southern Lebanon.

Just hours after the agreement was announced, air raid alarms were reported in northern Israel with a “suspicious aerial target” identified, but no casualties were reported.

A joint statement said the ceasefire was “contingent on a complete cessation” of fire by Hezbollah as well as the removal of the group’s operatives from southern Lebanon.

“This is not the announcement of a brand-new ceasefire; this is asserting respect for a ceasefire that was actually agreed just last month in May, which was a 45-day extension to an already existing ceasefire that was there before,” Al Jazeera’s Manuel Rapalo said, reporting from Washington, DC.

“The fact that Hezbollah, as a group, has not been part of this negotiation makes them kind of a wild card and leaves questions unanswered as to how any sort of framework that could result from these negotiations would be implemented,” he added.

The meetings in Washington were the fourth round of direct talks between Lebanese and Israeli diplomats since fighting escalated on March 2 when Hezbollah renewed attacks against Israel in support of Iran, which led to intensified Israeli bombardments and a ground invasion of southern Lebanon.

Both sides will meet for more talks the week of June 22 , the statement said, “with a view towards reaching a comprehensive agreement”.

However, Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said on Thursday that the country’s military will continue to carry out operations in Lebanon for the time being and will not be withdrawing from the country, despite the announcement of the new ceasefire.

In a statement, Katz said that Israel’s military would remain in areas in southern Lebanon it is occupying as part of what Israel’s government describes as a buffer zone meant to protect northern Israeli communities from Hezbollah attacks.

Hundreds of thousands of Lebanese residents, forced from their homes in the south by Israel’s military since fighting began in March, would also not be allowed to return, he said.

Israel would also continue to “dismantle terrorist infrastructure in the area” and had “freedom of action, backed by the United States, to strike in Beirut in response to attacks on Israeli communities and territory” Katz said.

Iran’s reaction

Earlier in the day, United States President Donald Trump said he wanted to separate talks on the conflict in Lebanon and those on the US-Israeli war on Iran.

Tehran, however, insists the conflicts are linked, and its foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, warned that any attack on Beirut would trigger a “full-scale resumption” of war.

Araghchi also said on Wednesday that lines of communication with the US were still open but “no tangible progress” has been made in negotiations to end the Middle East war.

“Communications with the Americans have not been cut off, and messages have been exchanged regarding the need to stop aggression against Beirut, but no tangible progress has been made in the negotiation process,” the Tasnim News Agency quoted him as telling Lebanon’s Al Mayadeen TV.

“Returning to the negotiating table is conditional on ensuring the rights of the Iranian people, ending the war in Lebanon and stopping tensions in the region.”

Separately, Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei said in a message on Thursday that Iran’s enemies, having been defeated on the battlefield, were now seeking to undermine public resilience and sow internal divisions.

Khamenei called for national unity in the face of those threats and said any action that created pessimism or frustration among the public amounted to helping the enemy in a message read on his behalf during ceremonies marking the anniversary of the death of Iran’s founder, Ruhollah Khomeini, as well as a major Shia holiday.

Al Jazeera’s Obaida Hitto, reporting from Tyre in southern Lebanon, said that since dawn there have been ongoing Israeli strikes in the region.

“An attack south of the city of Tyre targeted a family driving in a vehicle on Zefta Road, injuring a man, his wife and daughter,” Hitto said.

“Also in Nabatieh district, there was a large attack on a roundabout with news reports saying civilians were wounded.”

Early on Thursday, Hezbollah said it aimed a “salvo of rockets” at Israeli soldiers and vehicles in the southern Lebanese town of Qantara and also targeted an Israeli command position near Beaufort Castle, also known as Qalaat al-Shaqif, with two drones.

The Israeli military said it intercepted a “hostile aircraft” and two projectiles that crossed into Israeli territory from Lebanon on Wednesday.

A truce to halt the fighting in Lebanon was meant to take hold on April 17 but has never been observed. Both sides have justified their attacks with the other’s alleged violations.

Deaths in Gaza

Meanwhile, Israeli attacks on Gaza City apartments overnight killed at least nine people, including four children, according to sources at al-Shifa Hospital.

Al Jazeera’s Ibrahim al-Khalili, reporting from Gaza, said people were caught off guard as the attacks struck without any warning while many were asleep.

“According to initial reports, at least nine Palestinians were killed in the strikes, and rescue teams rushed to the scene as a large fire broke out at one of the impacted sites,” he said.

“Witnesses described chaotic scenes as a family, including children, women and elderly people, were trapped inside burning apartments,” our correspondent added.

He said rescue crews struggled to reach those who were trapped, and medics stated that several survivors suffered severe burns.