Israel-Lebanon ceasefire extended by three weeks, Trump announces
The fragile ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon has been extended by three weeks, President Donald Trump has announced.
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In a post on Truth Social, the President announced that the pause in hostilities would be extended by three weeks after an initial 10-day truce.
The agreement comes after the two nations held direct face-to-face talks at the White House on Thursday.
Trump wrote: "The President of the United States, DONALD J. TRUMP, Vice President of the United States, JD Vance, Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, Ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, and Ambassador to Lebanon, Michel Issa, met today with High Ranking Representatives of Israel and Lebanon in the Oval Office.
"The Meeting went very well! The United States is going to work with Lebanon in order to help it protect itself from Hezbollah.
"The Ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon will be extended by THREE WEEKS. I look forward in the near future to hosting the Prime Minister of Israel, Bibi Netanyahu, and the President of Lebanon, Joseph Aoun. It was a Great Honor to be a participant at this very Historic Meeting!"
Taking questions from the press, Trump lauded the chance of peace being struck between the warring nations this year.
Of the chance of peace, he told reporters: "It's an easy one, relative to some of the ones we're working on."
"I think it has a great chance. I mean, you know, they're friends about the same things and they're enemies on the same things.
"You look at Hezbollah, that's where everybody seems to be united against them. So they are both very united in that way. I think there's a very good chance of having peace. I think it should be an easy one relative to some of the things we're working on.
"It should be an easy one, but it's been so many years because nobody focused on it.
"But Lebanon was a great country. It was a beautiful country, smart people, very brilliant people, doctors, professors, economists, some of the smartest people on the planet."
Speaking after the announcement, Vice President Vance said: "Of course, it wouldn't have happened without the President's direct engagement.
"The fact that you have these leaders of different countries coming together for the first time. They came together in the Oval Office, and they came together because of energetic diplomacy, of course, led by the President of the United States."
US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee echoed the sentiments, saying: "What an amazing opportunity to be here at a moment of history. The people of Lebanon, the people of Israel are neighbours and they want to get along.
"They can get along, but it's like neighbours who have a rough little kid living in the neighbourhood who keeps throwing rocks at everybody's window. And if the kid will quit throwing rocks, the neighbours can get along and start actually working together.
"The President has initiated something that is truly bringing the neighbourhood back to a neighbourhood and recognising that the problem is not Lebanon and the problem is not Israel. The problem is Hezbollah, the bad little kid throwing rocks.
"That's what the President is getting launched today to get that little kid out of the neighbourhood.