Israel and Hezbollah renewed their ceasefire on Friday, but Jerusalem will continue to hold a security presence in Lebanon aimed at targeting the country’s terrorist group, according to officials.
Israel’s ambassador, Yechiel Leiter, confirmed the agreement, saying the country halted all offensive operations against Hezbollah. The United States and Qatar brokered the latest deal through talks with Israel and Iran, a senior U.S. official told multiple outlets, with the ceasefire beginning at 4 p.m. local time on Friday. The development comes after President Donald Trump told NBC News earlier Friday that he spoke with Israel and asked it to agree to the ceasefire.
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“If Hezbollah honors the agreement and ceases its hostilities, they will be met with quiet,” Leiter wrote in a statement to X. “Israel is in the security zone in southern Lebanon to rid the area of Hezbollah and dismantle its terror infrastructure. We will remain there until that mission is accomplished.”
“Israel wants our neighbor to the north, Lebanon … to prosper and enjoy democratic freedoms, and like any normal country, will never compromise on our security,” the ambassador continued. “This will only happen when Hezbollah, a murderous Iranian proxy, is destroyed.”
Hezbollah, an Iranian-backed terrorist group that holds immense power in Lebanon, has attacked Israel for years. On Feb. 28, Hezbollah attacked Israel in retaliation for the joint U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran, which killed the country’s supreme leader.
The U.S. brokered a 10-day pause of hostilities between the Lebanese and Israeli governments in April, but skirmishes continued. Another agreement was reached in early June, again between Israel and Lebanon. But on June 4, Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem reiterated he would not abide by the agreement, saying it would mean “surrender, defeat and achieving the enemy’s goals.”
U.S. pressure has increased on Israel in recent weeks to withdraw from southern Lebanon, which Jerusalem occupied after Hezbollah’s attacks in February and March. Iran has threatened to pull out of the peace deal with the U.S. if Israel remains in Lebanon. The memorandum of understanding reached by the U.S. and Iran on Wednesday stipulated that fighting between Israel and Hezbollah must cease in Lebanon.
Israel has so far resisted calls on it to withdraw, instead slightly expanding its security footprint in Lebanon on Thursday, despite Trump’s calls to stand down. Israeli officials said Hezbollah is the one violating ceasefire agreements, and that they must defend themselves. Earlier Friday, Israeli officials said four soldiers were killed by Hezbollah terrorists in the southern Lebanese village of Kfar Tebnit. That incident triggered multiple Israeli strikes against “Hezbollah infrastructure sites” in Nabatieh and other areas, before the latest ceasefire was established later in the day.
Though support for Israel in Congress is on the decline, lawmakers such as Sens. Tom Cotton (R-AR) and Rick Scott (R-FL) have continued to back Israel and blamed Hezbollah for the continued violence, expressing concern that it is targeting Christians in the country.
“Ceasefire happens when Hezbollah stops shooting & killing,” U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee said on Friday, in response to a post from Leiter, the Israeli ambassador, which noted several Hezbollah attacks on Israeli forces.
