Trump says Lebanon and Israel agree to extend Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire
by 3 weeks
[April 24, 2026]
By MATTHEW LEE and BASSEM MROUE
Washington (AP) — President Donald Trump said Israel and Lebanon have
agreed to extend a ceasefire between Israel and the Hezbollah militant
group by three weeks after talks at the White House on Thursday.
Trump said the meeting between the Israeli and Lebanese ambassadors to
the United States, the second in the past week, went “very well,” but
during an Oval Office gathering he acknowledged that “they do have
Hezbollah to think about.” The Iranian-backed group has opposed the
talks, and since the initial ceasefire went into effect last Friday,
there have been multiple violations by both sides.
Despite that, these were the first direct diplomatic talks in decades
between Israel and Lebanon and represented a major step for neighboring
countries that officially have been at war since Israel’s inception in
1948. The initial 10-day ceasefire had been due to expire Monday.
“The United States is going to work with Lebanon in order to help it
protect itself from Hezbollah,” Trump said in a social media post. He
added later in the Oval Office that he expects to meet in Washington
with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Lebanese President
Joseph Aoun in the next couple of weeks.
Trump told reporters, while surrounded by the ambassadors as well as
Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, that Israel
has a right to defend itself “if they’re shot at, and they will.”
“We hope that together, under your leadership, we can formalize peace
between Israel and Lebanon in the very near future,” Israeli Ambassador
Yechiel Leiter said.
Lebanese Ambassador Nada Hamadeh Moawad thanked Trump “for all your
effort to help and to support Lebanon.” She referenced his “Make America
Great Again” slogan when she said, “And I think with your help, with
your support, we can make Lebanon great again.”
Lebanon presses wider-reaching negotiations
Aoun, the Lebanese president, said a day earlier that during the talks
Hamadeh would ask for an end to Israeli home demolitions in villages and
towns occupied by Israel after the latest war broke out on March 2.
Preparations were being made for wider-reaching negotiations. The aim of
the future talks is to “fully” stop Israeli attacks, the withdrawal of
Israeli troops from Lebanon, release of Lebanese prisoners held in
Israel, deployment of Lebanese troops along the border and beginning the
reconstruction process, Aoun said in comments released by his office.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar has called on Lebanon to work with
Israel to disarm Hezbollah.
“We don’t have any serious disagreements with Lebanon. There are a few
minor border disputes that can be solved,” Saar said during Independence
Day remarks to Israel’s ambassadors and diplomatic corps. He described
the neighboring country as a “failed state.”
“The obstacle to peace and normalization between the countries is one:
Hezbollah,” he said, adding that Lebanon could have “a future of
sovereignty, independence and freedom from the Iranian occupation.”
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From left, Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Yechiel Leiter, Vice
President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Lebanese
Ambassador to the U.S. Nada Hamadeh Moawad, listen to President
Donald Trump speak in the Oval Office at the White House, Thursday,
April 23, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
Renewed fighting in Lebanon was tied to Iran war
The latest war started when Hezbollah fired rockets into northern
Israel, two days after Israel and the U.S. launched attacks on Iran.
Israel responded with widespread bombardment of Lebanon and a ground
invasion, capturing dozens of towns and villages along the border.
Israel’s military occupies a buffer zone stretching as far as 6
miles (10 kilometers) into southern Lebanon. Israel says it aims to
remove the threat of short-range rockets and anti-tank missiles
being fired toward northern Israel.
Hezbollah has not been a participant in the diplomacy. Wafiq Safa, a
high-ranking member of the militant group’s political council, has
told The Associated Press that it will not abide by any agreements
made during the direct talks.
The Lebanese government hopes the talks will pave the way to a
permanent end to the war. While Iran has set ending the wars in
Lebanon and the region as a condition for negotiations with the
U.S., Lebanon insists on representing itself.
The talks last week were the first between Israel and Lebanon since
1993. Both countries have relied on indirect communication, often
brokered by the U.S. or UNIFIL, the United Nations peacekeeping
mission in southern Lebanon.
Lebanon’s top political authorities, critical of Hezbollah’s
decision to fire rockets toward Israel on March 2 in solidarity with
Iran, quickly proposed direct talks in a bid to stop the escalation,
hoping Israel would not launch its ground invasion.
Despite the ceasefire that was later reached, an Israeli strike
Wednesday killed Amal Khalil, a well-known Lebanese journalist
covering southern Lebanon. Lebanese health officials said the
Israeli military opened fire on an ambulance that responded,
preventing rescuers from reaching her. Her body was pulled from the
rubble of a collapsed building several hours later.
The Israeli military denied that it had deliberately targeted
journalists or fired on rescuers, but the case sparked widespread
anger in Lebanon ahead of the Washington talks.
After a Cabinet meeting Thursday, Lebanon’s Deputy Prime Minister
Tarek Mitri said the government is working on a report documenting
alleged war crimes by Israel and that ministers had discussed
joining the International Criminal Court.
The latest Israel-Hezbollah war has killed around 2,300 people in
Lebanon, including hundreds of women and children, and displaced
over 1 million people.
___
Mroue reported from Beirut. AP writers Abby Sewell in Beirut and
Aamer Madhani and Collin Binkley in Washington contributed.
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