Key Points
- The ceasefire took effect at 4:00 p.m. local time on Friday.
- The truce follows a US-Iran agreement aimed at ending the broader Middle East conflict
- At least 47 people were killed in southern Lebanon in overnight Israeli air strikes
- Lebanon’s President Joseph Aoun condemned the latest Israeli attacks
WASHINGTON: Israel and Hezbollah have agreed to a ceasefire, a US official said on Friday, despite fresh deadly exchanges in Lebanon that had raised concerns about the agreement aimed at ending the conflict.
The truce, beginning immediately, was brokered by US and Qatari mediators following talks with Israel and Iran, the official told AFP on condition of anonymity.
“We understand that after the exchange of fire earlier today, Israel and Hezbollah are now in a ceasefire,” the official added.
Meanwhile, Israeli airstrikes and bombardments killed at least 47 people and wounded 97 others in Lebanon on Friday, according to the latest updated toll from the Lebanese health ministry.
The dead included at least seven women and two children, and the figures were released as a new ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah was due to start.
Israel continues its strikes in southern Lebanon, targeting the city of Nabatieh pic.twitter.com/8YSpgWNXih
— RT (@RT_com) June 19, 2026
The developments come a day after the United States and Iran signed an agreement aimed at ending the wider Middle East conflict, including securing a permanent ceasefire in Lebanon.
Lebanon’s President Joseph Aoun on Friday condemned the ongoing Israeli escalation of attacks in Lebanon, but said the military attacks would not deter efforts to reach a comprehensive ceasefire as quickly as possible.
“What we are witnessing today in the South and the Bekaa Valley in terms of the expansion of Israeli attacks and more killing and destruction constitutes a dangerous and condemned escalation, especially since it has affected dozens of innocents, including women and children, and practically targets all ongoing efforts to consolidate the ceasefire and end the war, particularly after the recent developments that occurred between the United States of America and the Islamic Republic of Iran,” the Lebanese presidency posted on social media.
“However, this will not deter efforts to achieve a comprehensive ceasefire as quickly as possible, and this is what I instructed the Lebanese negotiating delegation to pursue in the next round in Washington.”
“There can be no leniency on this matter, because a comprehensive ceasefire is the gateway to addressing other issues, the most important of which are the Israeli withdrawal, the deployment of the army, and the return of the prisoners,” Aoun added.
Trump expects ‘complete ceasefire on all fronts’
US President Donald Trump on Thursday said he expected a “complete ceasefire” across the Middle East, including Lebanon, Hezbollah and Israel, as negotiations between Washington and Tehran move forward after signing the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding to end war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
Writing on his Truth Social platform, Trump said the United States remained committed to peace and urged all parties in the Middle East region to maintain their commitment to the diplomatic process.
“The United States is committed to PEACE, and we encourage everyone in the Middle East Region to maintain their commitment to allowing our negotiations to beautifully unfold. The Markets are loving what is happening with Oil Prices way down, and Stocks way up. We expect a complete Ceasefire on all fronts, including Lebanon, Hezbollah, and Israel,” Trump stated.
US Vice President JD Vance meanwhile issued an extraordinary rebuke of hardline ministers in the Israeli government on Thursday for criticizing the Iran deal, telling them to “wake up and smell the reality.”
“Donald J. Trump is the only head of state in the entire world who is sympathetic to the nation of Israel at this moment in time,” Vance told a White House briefing.
“If I was in the cabinet of the Israeli government, I might not be attacking the only powerful ally that I have anywhere left in the entire world.”
