Israel agrees to 10-day ceasefire in Lebanon.

A Lebanese woman watches as workers and relatives searched for missing victims in the ruins of a residential building hit six days prior by an Israeli airstrike in Beirut, on April 14, 2026. A 10-day ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon went into effect as Friday began in the Middle East, a truce that could lift a major obstacle to the United States’ peace effort with Iran and pause a devastating wave of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah. (David Guttenfelder/The New York Times)

By EUAN WARD, TYLER PAGER and JOHNATAN REISS

Israel has agreed to a 10-day ceasefire in Lebanon, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday, a development that could remove a major hurdle to the broader U.S.-Iran peace talks.

The truce would pause the war between Israel and Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed Lebanese militant group. Netanyahu’s announcement came shortly after President Donald Trump said on social media that the leaders of Israel and Lebanon had agreed to a truce that would begin at 5 p.m. Eastern time and after a flurry of diplomatic outreach from the Trump administration. Prime Minister Nawaf Salam of Lebanon said the country welcomed the ceasefire.

Israel has been discussing a deal only with the Lebanese government, which does not have direct control over Hezbollah, a group considered more powerful than Lebanon’s own military. Hezbollah has long rejected direct talks with Israel, though it has abided by some deals negotiated by the Lebanese government.

Already, points of possible contention were emerging Thursday.

Netanyahu said Israeli troops would remain in southern Lebanon, where they have seized territory. Hezbollah, however, said in a statement from its media office that a ceasefire must not allow Israeli forces “any freedom of movement.” The statement did not say directly whether Hezbollah would abide by the truce. It said the group’s actions would be “based on how developments unfold.”

The fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, Iran’s most powerful proxy, has threatened to upend the two-week ceasefire between the United States and Iran, which is set to expire next week. Trump told reporters at the White House that the next in-person negotiations with Iran might occur this weekend. Trump said he would consider extending the pause in fighting if the United States is close to a deal with Iran. He has repeatedly suggested a deal is near.

It was not clear whether Lebanese displaced from the country’s south would be able to return home; Israel has signaled recently that it was planning to occupy large parts of the area even after the current conflict.

More than 2,100 people have been killed in Lebanon during the current round of fighting, Lebanese authorities say, and over 1 million residents displaced. At least 13 Israeli soldiers have also been killed, along with two civilians, according to Israeli authorities.

Here’s what else we are covering:

— U.S. threats: Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Thursday renewed U.S. threats to attack Iran’s power plants and other energy sites if its leaders did not agree to a peace deal.

— Iran talks: On Thursday, Pakistan said it expected to host a second round of negotiations between the United States and Iran but declined to give a date, as senior Pakistani mediators visited Tehran, the Iranian capital, in an effort to shore up the U.S.-Iran ceasefire.