Trump: Lebanon & Israel agree to ceasefire extension

President Trump on Thursday announced a three-week extension of the ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon after meeting with diplomats from both countries at the White House.

“This is a rather historic meeting,” he said in the Oval Office. “We had a great conversation, and I think it’s the beginning of something very important. It would be a wonderful thing to get this worked out simultaneously with what we’re doing in Iran.”

The extension materialized during a second round of talks between the two countries, following their historic first meeting last week.

In the hours before the deal, Israel and Hezbollah — the Iran-backed militant group that operates out of Lebanon — had been trading attacks, testing the limits of the existing ceasefire struck on April 16.

Lebanon has no direct control over Hezbollah, but ending the fighting in the country has been seen as critical for peace talks between the U.S. and Iran.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the agreement will buy more time to work out a longer-term peace deal.

“It gives everybody time to continue to work on what’s going to be a permanent peace between two countries that want to be at peace. Both are victimized by the same terrorist organization,” he told reporters.

“The people of Lebanon deserve to live in a country that’s peaceful and prosperous,” he added. “What’s standing in the way is an organization that operates — a terrorist organization that operates within their national territory. That threat needs to be eliminated.”

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