US President Donald Trump announced on Thursday the extension of the ceasefire between Lebanon and Israel for three weeks after a high-level meeting at the White House in which the Lebanese and Israeli ambassadors participated to discuss consolidating the truce. Iran continues to extend its control over the Hormuz Corridor, while Trump downplayed the threat it poses, and stated that he believes Tehran is unable to conclude an agreement because its leadership is in a state of turmoil.

Published on: 04/24/2026 - 02:27 Last updated: 04/24/2026 - 12:38

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US President Donald Trump announced on Thursday the extension of the ceasefire between Lebanon and Israel for a period of three weeks, following a high-level meeting held at the White House, at a time when Iran adheres to its demands to stop the war and continues to extend its control over the Strait of Hormuz.

In the Oval Office, Trump met with Israel's ambassador to Washington, Yechiel Laiter, and the Lebanese ambassador to the United States, Nada Moawad, to hold a second round of talks under American mediation, one day after Israeli raids that killed at least five people, including a journalist.

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On the Truth Social platform, Trump wrote, “The meeting went very well!” Stressing that the United States "will work with Lebanon to help it protect itself from Hezbollah."

Trump also made clear that he looks forward to receiving Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Lebanese President Joseph Aoun in the near future.

The ceasefire, which was reached after talks between the ambassadors of Lebanon and Israel last week and was scheduled to expire next Sunday, witnessed a clear decrease in the level of violence, but attacks continued in southern Lebanon, where Israeli forces extend their control over a buffer zone that it declared unilaterally.

He asserts that he has the "right to resist" the occupying forces.

Vice President J.D. Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio also participated in the meeting, along with US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee and US Ambassador to Lebanon Michel Issa.

A day after Iran demonstrated its strong control over the main shipping lane, US President Donald Trump downplayed the threat posed by Iran's "arrogant little ships" and said he believed Tehran was unable to conclude a deal because its leadership was in turmoil.

Read also: Lebanese journalist Amal Khalil was killed in an Israeli raid on the south of the country

The largest number of deaths in one day since the truce took effect

The Israeli army announced on Thursday that it had targeted two armed individuals in the Ainata area in southern Lebanon after spotting them approaching its soldiers, explaining that they posed what it described as an “immediate threat.”

It is still unclear whether this incident is related to the strikes reported by the Lebanese Ministry of Health in nearby areas earlier in the day, as the Ministry reported that an Israeli air strike claimed the lives of three people, while an artillery shelling resulted in the injury of two others, including a child.

Wednesday witnessed the largest death toll in Lebanon since the ceasefire entered into force on April 16.

According to what a Lebanese military official and Al-Akhbar newspaper reported, Lebanese journalist Amal Khalil, who works for the newspaper, was among the victims.

Commenting on the developments, Hassan Fadlallah, a representative of Hezbollah, said that the group wants the ceasefire to continue, but on the basis of full commitment by Israel, reiterating during a televised press conference the party’s rejection of direct talks, and calling on the government to “stop all forms of direct communication with the enemy.”

The spark of renewed fighting between Hezbollah and Israel dates back to March 2, when the Lebanese group opened fire in support of Iran in the war launched by the United States and Israel against it, while a ceasefire was imposed in Lebanon separately from Washington’s efforts to settle its conflict with Tehran, despite Iran’s demand to include Lebanon in any broader truce.

Hezbollah announced that it carried out four operations in southern Lebanon on Wednesday in response to the Israeli raids.

For its part, the Lebanese authorities estimated the death toll at about 2,500 people across the country since Israel began its military campaign following Hezbollah's attack on it on March 2.

Israel also extends its control over a strip of land between five and ten kilometers deep inside southern Lebanon, and says that the aim of this is to protect its northern regions from attacks by Hezbollah, which fired hundreds of missiles towards it during the war.

The Israeli army renewed its warnings to residents of southern Lebanon against crossing the line into that area.

Stop demolitions

Hassan Fadlallah considered that full commitment to the ceasefire requires Israel to stop assassinations, a complete ceasefire, and stop the destruction of villages, provided that this paves the way for an Israeli withdrawal through steps taken by the Lebanese state and not through direct negotiations.

A Lebanese official revealed that Beirut requires extending the ceasefire as an entry point to move to talks beyond the ambassadorial level in the next stage, as Lebanon intends to push for the withdrawal of Israeli forces, the return of Lebanese detained in Israel, and the demarcation of land borders.

For its part, Israel confirms that its goals in the talks with Lebanon include ensuring the dismantling of Hezbollah and creating conditions for reaching a peace agreement, at a time when it sought to build common ground with the Lebanese government regarding the party, which Beirut has been trying to disarm peacefully for nearly a year.

On April 14, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio hosted the first meeting between the Lebanese and Israeli ambassadors, in what was considered the highest level of official communication between the two parties in decades.

The US administration denied the existence of any link between efforts to mediate a ceasefire in Lebanon and diplomatic moves aimed at ending the war on Iran.

For its part, Hezbollah asserts that the ceasefire in Lebanon came as a result of Iranian pressure to a greater extent than it was the result of American mediation.

France 24/AFP

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