Israel and Lebanon agree new ceasefire as Trump scrambles to end Iran war

Delegations from the US, Israel and Lebanon meeting in Washington to implement a new ceasefire. Photograph: Nathan Howard/Reuters View image in fullscreen Delegations from the US, Israel and Lebanon meeting in Washington to implement a new ceasefire. Photograph: Nathan Howard/Reuters Israel and Lebanon agree new ceasefire as Trump scrambles to end Iran war Despite deal which is dependent on Hezbollah ceasing fire, Israel carried out multiple drone strikes in southern Lebanon on Thursday morning Israel and Lebanon have agreed to implement a ceasefire to end hostilities, the Trump administration has announced, as the US looks to overcome one of the largest barriers to reaching a broader deal to end the war with Iran. The Israel-Lebanon ceasefire is contingent on a complete cessation of fire from the Iran-aligned Hezbollah armed group and the evacuation of all its fighters from the area south of the Litani river in south Lebanon , a joint statement released by the US state department said after negotiations in Washington. The agreement was signed between the governments of Lebanon and Israel . Fighting has been between Hezbollah and Israel; the Lebanese army is not a party to the conflict. However, the Lebanese government has been negotiating with Israel without Hezbollah as part of its effort to reassert the government’s control over the country and disarm the armed group. Despite the joint commitment to a ceasefire, Israel carried out multiple drone strikes in the Nabatieh area of southern Lebanon on Thursday morning. The two sides, which do not have formal diplomatic relations, also agreed 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”. A Hezbollah official told the AFP news agency on Tuesday that the group would “not accept a partial ceasefire”, and the group has not been party to the talks. In private, however, the group has signalled that it is ready for a complete ceasefire which would mean the group not firing if Israel also refrained from strikes. It was unclear how the group would respond to Israel’s bombings on Thursday morning. Hezbollah also has said that it would not return to the prewar status quo, in which Israel struck Lebanon frequently despite the existence of a previous ceasefire. The joint statement did not mention if or when Israeli troops would withdraw from south Lebanon. Israel occupies at least 608 sq km of land along the Lebanese-Israel border. A truce to halt the fighting in Lebanon was meant to take hold on 17 April, but hostilities continued, with both sides justifying their ongoing attacks by the other’s alleged violations. View image in fullscreen Rescuers work at the ruins of a residential building after an Israeli airstrike in Tyre, southern Lebanon. Photograph: Xinhua/Shutterstock The meetings in Washington were the fourth round of direct talks by Lebanese and Israeli diplomats since fighting erupted on 2 March, when