WASHINGTON — US President Donald Trump announced a three-week extension of a ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon shortly after presiding over the second round of ambassador-level talks between the two countries at the White House.
In a Truth Social post published immediately after the meeting ended, Trump said he also planned to host Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Lebanese President Joseph Aoun at the White House “in the near future.”
“The United States is going to work with Lebanon in order to help it protect itself from Hezbollah,” Trump wrote, adding that the White House meeting went “very well.”
Shortly after publishing the post, Trump invited reporters into the Oval Office, where participants in the talks offered brief remarks thanking the president for organizing them.
Trump then took questions from reporters, claiming that any deal the US signs with Iran must include a provision barring Tehran from continuing to fund Hezbollah. He also clarified the ceasefire does not bar Israel from launching strikes in self-defense and called for Lebanese legislation outlawing contact with Israelis to be scrapped, though he acknowledged having never heard of the law before.
Earlier this month, Trump coaxed Israel into agreeing to an initial 10-day ceasefire against Hezbollah, which was set to expire at midnight Monday-Tuesday. Hezbollah dragged Lebanon into the US-Israeli war against Iran after it began targeting the Jewish state on March 2.
After the US and Iran agreed to a ceasefire on April 7, Tehran insisted that it cover Lebanon as well and continued blocking ships in the Strait of Hormuz as Israel kept up strikes against Hezbollah.
Apparently concerned the continued tensions in Lebanon would harm the truce between the US and Iran, Washington began pressuring Israel to curb its strikes on Hezbollah.
But to avoid legitimizing Iran’s influence over developments in Lebanon, the US sought to secure the truce through a separate channel — direct talks between Jerusalem and Beirut, which had not happened in decades.
Given the anti-Hezbollah stance of the current government in Beirut, the Trump administration saw a unique opportunity for a peace deal.
However, the Iran-backed terror group still holds significant sway in Lebanon, where roughly one-third of the population is Shiite. Previous attempts by the government to disarm Hezbollah have proven wildly unsuccessful as it continued to fire repeatedly at northern Israel.
Accordingly, it is not clear whether an agreement between Israel and Lebanon in Washington will be able to have practical ramifications on the ground.
Moreover, Beirut’s priorities in the talks with Israel appear to be maintaining the ceasefire and pushing back the IDF, which has established a three-to-six-mile deep buffer zone in southern Lebanon.
For Israel, the main priority in the talks is to secure the disarmament of Hezbollah. Jerusalem has pledged to resume fighting if diplomacy fails.
Trump, meanwhile, is looking to add another peace deal to his resume, but also indicated that such a deal would help with Washington’s efforts to reach a permanent ceasefire with Iran.
“It’ll be a wonderful thing to get this worked out simultaneously with what we’re doing in Iran,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office after the meeting.
Asked when the sit-down between Netanyahu and Aoun would be held, Trump expressed his hope that it would take place sometime during the three-week truce extension. Last week, however, he said the Israeli and Lebanese leaders would speak by phone the following day, though no such call ended up occurring.
Aoun has held off on engaging with Netanyahu as he faces significant domestic pressure back home, including threats from Hezbollah, and its unclear whether he would be willing to meet Netanyahu while Israeli forces continue to occupy a buffer zone in southern Lebanon.
‘Eliminating the Hezbollah menace’
In his opening remarks during the meeting, Israeli Ambassador to the US Yechiel Leiter cautioned against focusing on Israel’s military presence in Lebanon.
“To put the emphasis repeatedly in our talks on Israeli withdrawal, is to fall into the trap once again of putting the emphasis in the wrong place,” Leiter said in remarks later published by the Israeli embassy. “If we continue down that path, we are doomed to failure. And failure, friends, is not an option.”
“If, on the other hand, we put the focus on the root problem, Hezbollah, and its murderous intentions with regard to Israel, I have no doubt that we will succeed in eliminating the Hezbollah menace and achieving peace between our two countries,” he said.
Leiter stressed that the IDF buffer zone is in place to defend Israeli northern towns from Hezbollah fire.
“As long as the threat to Israeli citizens persists, our forward positions must remain,” he continued. “Lebanon has not met its obligations to dismantle terror infrastructures, as demonstrated in the repeated attacks against Israel launched from the south Lebanon area in recent weeks — indeed, during the ceasefire itself.”
The Israeli envoy said Israel is prepared to extend the ceasefire, while warning that it would only work if Jerusalem maintains the right to take out threats whenever they’re identified.
During the public portion of the meeting, Leiter insisted that Jerusalem has no beef with the Lebanese government.
“Israel wants peace with Lebanon and Israel wants security for its citizens,” he said. “We’re united with the Lebanese government in wanting to rid the country of this malign influence called Hezbollah.”
Thanks to the US and Israeli strikes on Iran, Leiter maintained that “the possibility of degrading Hezbollah and liberating Lebanon from their occupation is real… We hope that together, we can formalize peace between Israel Lebanon in the very near future.”
Lebanese Ambassador to the US Nada Hamadeh also thanked Trump, but refrained from offering similar comments about the potential for peace with Israel.
“Thank you for… presiding over this historic moment,” Hamadeh said.
“With your support, we can make Lebanon great again,” she adds, causing Trump to smile.
Trump also asked US Vice President JD Vance, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, US Ambassador to Lebanon Michel Issa and US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee to address the press as well, and each was careful to use the opportunity to praise the president.
Rubio said the ceasefire extension gives time for Israel and Lebanon to work toward a “permanent peace.”
Huckabee compared Hezbollah to a “rough little kid living in the neighborhood who keeps throwing rocks at everybody’s window.”
“If the kid will quit throwing rocks, the neighbors can get along and start actually working together,” Huckabee said, maintaining that the effort initiated by the US will “get that little kid out of the neighborhood.”
As he began taking questions from reporters, Trump was asked whether Iran must stop funding Hezbollah to reach a deal with the US.
“Yes, that is a must,” Trump responded.
Recent talks with Iran have largely focused on the nuclear issue, though, as Tehran has pushed back on demands that deals include an end to its support for proxies in the region.
Asked whether he thinks Israel and Lebanon can reach a peace deal this year, Trump responded, “There’s a great chance.”
Trump was then asked about continued Israeli strikes against Hezbollah and indicated that he would allow them under certain circumstances.
“Israel is going to have to defend itself if they are shot at… but they’re going to do it carefully, and they’ll be surgical,” Trump told reporters.
The remarks indicated a softened approach from Trump after he declared last week that Israel was “PROHIBITED” from bombing Lebanon.
The Truth Social warning was said to have sparked alarm in Washington, leading a White House official to clarify to reporters that the ceasefire still allows Israel to take action against perceived threats.
Trump was also asked about a Lebanese law outlawing contact with Israelis, which the US State Department has reportedly been leaning on Beirut in recent days to annul.
“I never heard of that, but… I’m pretty sure that’ll be ended very quickly,” Trump said before turning around to seek affirmation from Rubio.
“Yup,” the secretary responded.
“I know Lebanon doesn’t want that… That’s crazy,” Trump added.
The Lebanese ambassador standing behind him was not given an opportunity to respond.
