Trump announces Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire, claims rapid Iran talks progress despite tensions with Netanyahu over Lebanon offensive
WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump said Monday that Israel and Hezbollah had agreed to stop fighting, adding that Iran talks were moving rapidly after seeming to falter over Israel’s Lebanon offensive.
Trump said he had spoken to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and had a “very good call” through unnamed representatives with the Hezbollah militant group.
Netanyahu agreed to call off a military raid on Beirut while Hezbollah agreed “all shooting will stop,” Trump said on his Truth Social network.
But there were fresh signs of tensions between the United States and Israel over the situation in the Middle East. The two countries launched a joint offensive against Iran on February 28.
Netanyahu appeared to cast doubt on any truce with Hezbollah — while a report in the US news outlet Axios said that Trump called the Israeli premier “crazy” and accused him of putting Iran peace talks at risk.
Trump’s comments came after Iran’s news agency Tasnim reported Tehran had suspended dialogue with mediators in protest of Israel’s expanding offensive in Lebanon against Iran’s ally Hezbollah.
“I had a very productive call with Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu, of Israel, and there will be no Troops going to Beirut, and any Troops that are on their way, have already been turned back,” Trump wrote on Monday.
“Likewise, through highly placed Representatives, I had a very good call with Hezbollah, and they agreed that all shooting will stop — That Israel will not attack them, and they will not attack Israel.”
In a separate post a few minutes later, Trump said that “talks are continuing, at a rapid pace, with the Islamic Republic of Iran. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”
- ‘ETERNITY!’
Netanyahu later appeared to cast doubt on Trump’s claim of a ceasefire, saying that his country would strike Beirut if Hezbollah doesn’t stop attacking Israel.
“I spoke this evening with President Trump and told him that if Hezbollah does not cease attacking our towns and our citizens, Israel will strike terrorist targets in Beirut,” Netanyahu said, according to a statement released by his office.
But Trump doubled down after Netanyahu’s statement, saying in a further Truth Social message that the Israeli leader had “turned his troops around” from a planned major raid on Beirut.
Repeating his claim that Hezbollah and Israel had agreed to “stop shooting,” Trump added: “Let’s see how long that lasts — Hopefully it will be for ETERNITY!”
Earlier on Monday, the US leader had given decidedly mixed signals about his enthusiasm for the talks to end the Iran war, which the United States and Israel launched on February 28.
Trump told US broadcaster CNBC in a telephone interview shortly before his Truth Social posts that “I don’t care” if the Iran talks collapsed.
“Frankly, I thought they started to get very boring,” Trump told CNBC.
Trump separately told NBC News on Monday that he had not been informed that Iran was suspending negotiations but that, “I think we’ve been talking too much if you want to know the truth.”
“I think going silent would be very good, and that could be that could be for a long time,” he told NBC.
