Click to see full-size image. (Israeli Defense Forces)
Israel and Hezbollah have agreed to a ceasefire in Lebanon that took effect at 4 p.m. local time on June 19, according to Reuters and several other news agencies,
The ceasefire came following a flare-up in fighting in southern Lebanon that claimed the lives of four Israeli soldiers and more than 40 people on the Lebanese side.
The deal was brokered by the United States and Qatar through talks with Israel and Iran respectively, an American official told Reuters.
An Israeli source confirmed to Hebrew media outlets that the ceasefire has taken effect, adding that Israeli troops will remain in the southern Lebanon buffer zone while threatening to respond if Hezbollah attacks.
Meanwhile, Israeli Defense Forces Spokesman Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin said Israeli troops have “full freedom of action” to act against any threat in southern Lebanon, amid a ceasefire with Hezbollah.
He added that Israeli troops will continue to operate at the Beaufort Castle area and Ali Taher Height, to demolish major Hezbollah tunnel systems which serve as the terror group’s “central command centers.” The four Israeli soldiers were killed there overnight.
“Hezbollah is fighting a defensive battle to prevent our forces from completing the destruction of these infrastructures,” Defrin said.
“Hezbollah is the one that violated the ceasefire. It is trying to defend the capabilities it built over the years,” he continued.
Defrin noted that Israeli troops “have full operational freedom of action, to remove threats in any area” in southern Lebanon.
“There is no limit [concerning] removing threats,” he added.
The recent Israeli escalation in Lebanon appears to have angered the U.S. President Donald Trump, who told NBC News in a phone interview that he spoke with Israel and asked it to agree to a ceasefire with Hezbollah.
“You just gotta calm down sometimes and use your head,” Trump was quoted as saying on X by an NBC reporter, who adds that Trump declined to specify whether he spoke with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu directly.
Meanwhile, The Washington Post reported that a U.S. intelligence analysis has warned that Netanyahu is expected to take actions that will undermine the Trump administration’s push for a lasting peace with Iran.
Citing current and former U.S. officials, the report says U.S. intelligence agencies believe that Israel is determined to continue fighting against Hezbollah in Lebanon, where the deal signed between Iran and the administration calls for a cessation of military operations.
The analysis reportedly states that ahead of Knesset elections in the fall, Netanyahu’s political fate depends on him maintaining Israeli forces in southern Lebanon and that he wants to ramp up Israeli attacks on Hezbollah.
The assessment appears to be on point, as the IDF launched strikes in southern Lebanon right after the ceasefire came into effect.
Iran has already postponed planned talks with the United States in response to Israel’s escalation in Lebanon. If the IDF presses further, the Islamic Republic could take direct action. This appears to be exactly what Netanyahu is hoping for, in order to sabotage the American-Iranian deal.
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i do not believe israel is capable of agreement. it is a society born and bred for generational hate. this took decades at minimum to indoctrinate. a public statement of agreement will not change internal zionist logic. they were intentionally bred to conquer the region for the robber barons of our age. a very ignorant people by design.
good cop bad cop theatre called m.o.u.