Reuters : A 10-day ceasefire between Lebanon and Israel went into effect on Thursday and President Donald Trump said the next meeting between the United States and Iran may take place over the weekend, adding to optimism that the Iran war could be nearing an end.
Trump said Iran had offered not to possess nuclear weapons for more than 20 years. Tehran’s nuclear ambitions were a sticking point at talks in Islamabad last weekend.
“We’re going to see what happens. But I think we’re very close to making a deal with Iran,” he told reporters outside the White House. Hours later at an event in Las Vegas, Nevada, Trump went further, saying the war “should be ending pretty soon.”
The war with Iran, which began on Feb 28 with a US-Israeli attack, has killed thousands and sent oil prices surging, creating a major political headache for the US president.
If the Lebanon ceasefire clears the way for a broader peace deal with Iran, it would be a significant win for the Trump administration, which has struggled so far to reopen the strategically important Strait of Hormuz and block Iran’s path to a nuclear weapon.
Celebratory gunfire rang out across parts of Beirut as the clock struck midnight on Thursday, the time the ceasefire was set to go into effect. For around half an hour, the sound of explosions from rockets fired in celebration could also be heard, witnesses said.
But the pause in hostilities remained fragile. The Lebanese Army said early on Friday that Israel committed violations of the ceasefire after it took effect, including the intermittent shelling of several southern Lebanese villages.
There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military, which had said earlier that its forces remained deployed in the area. In a post on X, Arabic-language military spokesperson Avichay Adraee said the deployment was in response to what he described as continued Hezbollah militant activity.
Hezbollah released a lengthy statement detailing what it described as its military operations against Israel throughout Thursday, which showed that its last attack came at 11.50pm local time, 10 minutes before the ceasefire took effect.
Trump later issued a social media post urging Hezbollah to respect the ceasefire.
“I hope Hezbollah acts nicely and well during this important period of time. It will be an GREAT moment for them if they do. No more killing. Must finally have PEACE!” he said.
