The Donald Trump announced yesterday (Thursday) an extension of the ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon, which was due to expire the day after Sunday, for “three weeks.”
This follows conversations between representatives of the two countries in which he personally participated at the White House. Trump estimated that a peace deal could be reached between the two within the year. “The ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon will be extended for three weeks,” the US president said, typing the last two words of that sentence in capital letters, via Truth Social, summing up the meeting that “went very well!”, he assured.
He stressed in the same message that Washington “will work with Lebanon to help it protect itself” from Iranian-affiliated Hezbollah.
Before the meeting, the Lebanese government said it wanted to secure an extension of the fragile truce, which has been in place since April 17.
Shortly afterwards, addressing reporters, Donald Trump judged that there was a “very good chance” of a peace deal between Israel and Lebanon being signed within 2026, and assured that he expected Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Lebanese President Joseph Aoun to meet at the White House “in the coming weeks.”
President Aoun said earlier that he hopes “I can go to Washington to meet with President Trump and inform him of the truth about what is happening in Lebanon,” adding that he has no plans to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu.
The two countries – which remain formally at war – already held talks in Washington on April 14, the first since 1993, as part of an effort to end the war Lebanon was drawn into on March 2 when Hezbollah fired rockets at Israel.
The US then announced a 10-day ceasefire in that war.
In addition to the US president, also present at the meeting were his vice president J.D. Vance, Foreign Minister Marco Rubio, and the US ambassadors to the two countries, respectively Michael Isa and Mike Huckabee. The governments of the two countries were represented by Ambassador Jehiel Leiter and Ambassador Nanda Hamade Moawad.
“Only one obstacle”
The two countries agreed, after the first round of talks, to begin direct negotiations with a view to restoring lasting peace at a time and place to be determined.
The Lebanese government has assigned Simon Karam,an experienced diplomat, to lead a delegation to those negotiations.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saarassured Israel’s foreign minister the day before yesterday (Wednesday) that his government has no “serious disagreements” with that of Lebanon. “There is only one obstacle to peace and normalization (of relations) between the two countries: the Hezbollah,” he added, calling on the Lebanese government to “cooperate against the terrorist state that Hezbollah built on your territory.”
