Trump says Lebanon, Israel agree to extend Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire by 3 weeks

By  MATTHEW LEE and BASSEM MROUEFriday April 24, 2026

President Donald Trump said Thursday that Israel and Lebanon have agreed to keep their ceasefire in place for another three weeks, following White House talks that he described as productive and a potential opening toward broader peace.

Speaking after the Israeli and Lebanese ambassadors to the United States met for the second time in a week, Trump called the session “very well” while also noting in the Oval Office that “they do have Hezbollah to think about.” The Iran-backed militant group has rejected the discussions, and since the initial ceasefire took effect last Friday, both sides have accused each other of violating it multiple times.

Even with those strains, the direct diplomatic contact marked the first in decades between Israel and Lebanon and underscored a significant development for two neighbors that have officially been at war since Israel’s founding in 1948. The original 10-day ceasefire was set to expire Monday.

“The United States is going to work with Lebanon in order to help it protect itself from Hezbollah,” Trump wrote in a social media post. He later said in the Oval Office that he expects to host Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Lebanese President Joseph Aoun in Washington within the next few weeks.

Addressing reporters alongside the ambassadors, as well as Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Trump said Israel retains the right to respond “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.” Drawing on his campaign slogan, she added, “And I think with your help, with your support, we can make Lebanon great again.”

Lebanon presses wider-reaching negotiations

Aoun said a day earlier that during the Washington meeting, Hamadeh would seek an end to Israeli demolitions of homes in villages and towns occupied by Israel after the latest war erupted on March 2.

Officials are also preparing for broader negotiations. Aoun said in comments released by his office that the goal of future talks is to “fully” halt Israeli attacks, secure the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Lebanon, win the release of Lebanese prisoners held in Israel, deploy Lebanese troops along the border and begin reconstruction.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar has urged Lebanon to work with Israel on disarming Hezbollah.

“We don’t have any serious disagreements with Lebanon. There are a few minor border disputes that can be solved,” Saar said in remarks marking Independence Day to Israel’s ambassadors and diplomatic corps. He characterized Lebanon 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.”

Renewed fighting in Lebanon was tied to Iran war

The latest war began when Hezbollah fired rockets into northern Israel two days after Israel and the United States launched strikes on Iran. Israel answered with heavy bombardment of Lebanon and a ground invasion that seized dozens of towns and villages along the border.

Israeli troops now hold a buffer zone extending up to 6 miles (10 kilometers) into southern Lebanon. Israel says the deployment is intended to eliminate the threat of short-range rockets and anti-tank missiles aimed at northern Israel.

Hezbollah has stayed out of the diplomacy. Wafiq Safa, a senior figure in the militant group’s political council, told The Associated Press that Hezbollah would not honor any agreement reached through the direct talks.

The Lebanese government is hoping the negotiations can lead to a permanent end to the war. Iran has made ending the wars in Lebanon and across the region a condition for talks with the United States, but Lebanon says it must speak for itself.

Last week’s meeting was the first between Israel and Lebanon since 1993. The two sides have long relied on indirect channels, often through the United States or UNIFIL, the U.N. peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon.

Lebanon’s top political leaders, critical of Hezbollah’s decision to fire rockets at Israel on March 2 in solidarity with Iran, quickly pushed for direct talks in hopes of halting the escalation and preventing Israel from launching its ground invasion.

Even after the ceasefire took hold, tensions remained high. An Israeli strike on Wednesday killed Amal Khalil, a prominent Lebanese journalist covering southern Lebanon. Lebanese health officials said the Israeli military fired on an ambulance that responded, blocking rescuers from reaching her. Her body was recovered hours later from the rubble of a collapsed building.

The Israeli military denied intentionally targeting journalists or shooting at rescuers, but the episode fueled anger across Lebanon ahead of the Washington meeting.

Following a Cabinet session Thursday, Lebanon’s Deputy Prime Minister Tarek Mitri said the government is preparing a report on alleged Israeli war crimes and that ministers had discussed the possibility of joining the International Criminal Court.

The latest Israel-Hezbollah war has killed about 2,300 people in Lebanon, including hundreds of women and children, and forced more than 1 million people from their homes.

___

Mroue reported from Beirut. AP writers Abby Sewell in Beirut and Aamer Madhani and Collin Binkley in Washington contributed.