Trump Says Israel-Lebanon Ceasefire Extended by Three Weeks as Strikes Continue

Source

YM Lee

Summary

President Donald Trump said the Israel-Lebanon ceasefire will be extended by three weeks.
Trump said the US will work with Lebanon so it can protect itself from Hezbollah.
Iran has protested that Israel's continued attacks on southern Lebanon amount to a violation of the ceasefire agreement.

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President Donald Trump said April 23 that the ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon would be extended by three weeks.

In a post on Truth Social, Trump said he personally chaired talks with senior Israeli and Lebanese representatives. He called the meeting "very successful" and said the US would help Lebanon protect itself from Hezbollah.

The second round of talks came nine days after an initial meeting in Washington on April 14 between Lebanese Ambassador to the US Nada Hamadeh Mouawad and Israeli Ambassador to the US Yechiel Leiter, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio serving as mediator. Those talks marked the first high-level meeting between Lebanon and Israel in 33 years. Two days later, on April 16, Israel and Lebanon announced a 10-day ceasefire. There had been doubts over whether Hezbollah would comply, but the truce took hold after Iran asked the group to join it.

Vice President JD Vance, Rubio, US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee and US Ambassador to Lebanon Michel Issa were among the American officials who attended the second meeting. Trump said he looked forward to welcoming Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Lebanese President Joseph Aoun to the White House soon. He added that it was an honor to take part in what he described as a historic meeting.

The 10-day ceasefire had originally been set to expire on April 25. With the three-week extension, the truce is set to remain formally in place until mid-May. Trump did not specify the exact end date. Counted from April 25, the ceasefire would run through May 16. Counted from April 23, when Trump announced the second meeting, it would run through May 14.

Despite the ceasefire, Israel has continued striking southern Lebanon, Hezbollah's main stronghold. Iran has denounced the attacks as a violation of the truce, while Israel has signaled it intends to manage the area as it does the Palestinian territories.

Lee Sang-eun, Washington correspondent, Hankyung.com, selee@hankyung.com