Donald Trump said that the US has banned Israel from bombing Lebanon, as a delicate US-brokered truce took hold.
The president said Washington would “work with Lebanon and deal with the Hezbollah situation” [sic] to ensure peace, insisting that Israel “will not be bombing Lebanon any longer”.
In an unusually firm statement posted to social media, he continued: “They are PROHIBITED from doing so by the U.S.A. Enough is enough!!!”
The 10-day ceasefire agreed on Thursday to stop the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah appeared to be largely holding, despite some reports of violations by Israeli forces.
At least 2,294 people have been killed and 7,544 wounded in Israeli attacks since 2 March, Lebanon’s health ministry said. More than a million people have been displaced by the fighting.
Paramedics in southern Lebanon said an Israeli drone strike had killed one person in the region on the first full day of the truce.
In a boon for global trade, Iran said on Friday that the Strait of Hormuz would be reopened for all commercial vessels for the remainder of the ceasefire in Lebanon.
Following a flurry of posts welcoming decision, Trump said: “This deal is not tied, in any way, to Lebanon, but we will, MAKE LEBANON GREAT AGAIN!”
People uprooted by the war began returning to devastated towns and neighbourhoods, with many finding their homes destroyed or uninhabitable after more than six weeks of renewed conflict.
Ali Hamza, a resident returning to his home in the Hezbollah-controlled southern suburbs of Beirut, described how he found his home intact, but that people were scared to return for now.
“It is impossible to live in these circumstances, and with these smells,” he said. “A full return is difficult now, despite the hardship of displacement.”
While Trump says Lebanon and Israel will work towards a longer-term deal, serious questions remain. The agreement notably does not demand Israel withdraw troops occupying parts of the south, where Israel’s defence minister said troops would continue to demolish homes he claimed were being used by Hezbollah.
Lawmakers representing Hezbollah, a political party in Lebanon, expressed their “cautious commitment” to the ceasefire with Israel on Friday, while Hezbollah’s parliamentary bloc criticised the Lebanese government for accepting direct negotiations with Israel.
The Iran-backed group, which operates independently of the Lebanese state, says it maintains “the right to resist”.
There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military on reports of ceasefire violations on Friday.
Israel’s defence minister Israel Katz said territory south of the Litani River, which meets the Mediterranean 20 miles north of the Israeli border, had yet to be cleared of Hezbollah militants and arms.
“This will have to be done politically or through the continuation of the IDF’s military activity after the ceasefire ends,” he said.
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