Israel and Lebanon have agreed to implement a ceasefire conditional on a complete halt to fire by the Iran-aligned Lebanese Shia militia and political party Hezbollah and the withdrawal of all its members from south of the Litani River in southern Lebanon, the two countries and the United States have said.
The agreement followed a fresh round of US-brokered negotiations that ended on June 3 in Washington. It was the fourth high-level trilateral meeting between Israeli and Lebanese representatives.
“As a result of the US-led negotiations, Israel and Lebanon agreed to the implementation of a ceasefire,” the three countries said in a joint statement released by the US State Department.
The statement said the two sides would resume political and security talks in the week of June 22 with a view to reaching a comprehensive agreement.
The parties agreed to move quickly to create “pilot zones” in which the Lebanese Armed Forces would take exclusive control of the territory, excluding all non-state actors.
The three countries said the future of relations between Israel and Lebanon should be decided by the two sovereign governments and rejected any attempt by a state or non-state actor to hold Lebanon’s future hostage.
They also condemned what they called continuing Iranian activities that undermine stability across the Middle East, whether through support for proxy groups or other acts of aggression.
Israel’s delegation said its security could be guaranteed only through the disarmament of Hezbollah and the dismantling of its infrastructure across Lebanon.
Israeli ambassador to the US Yechiel Leiter said the truce depended entirely on a complete halt to attacks on Israel. “If Hezbollah believes this outcome grants it impunity, it is mistaken,” he said.
The Lebanese delegation called for mutual respect of internationally recognised borders and the urgent, full implementation of the cessation of hostilities. Beirut said it would strengthen the Lebanese Armed Forces, with US support, to exercise effective control across the country.
US ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee described the two days of talks as very intense.
The most recent large-scale hostilities erupted on March 2, when Hezbollah fired projectiles at Israeli territory in retaliation for the killing of the then Iranian supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in the February 28 offensive launched by Israel and the US against Iran.
Israel and Lebanon had agreed a ceasefire in mid-April, later extended, though the bombardment did not stop. They had previously reached a truce in November 2024 after 13 months of fighting linked to the October 7, 2023 attacks.
