Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire extended by three weeks, Trump says
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Trump said Israel and Lebanon agreed to extend the Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire, which was set to expire on Monday, by three weeks. Meanwhile, the US and Iran persist in its tense standoff in the Strait of Hormuz.
Israel and Lebanon have agreed to extend a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, which had been due to expire on Monday, by three weeks, US President Donald Trump said on Thursday.
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The announcement follows after Israeli and Lebanese ambassadors met for a second round of talks at the White House, which Trump said went "very well," but acknowledged "they do have Hezbollah to think about".
The initial 10-day ceasefire went into effect last Friday after a first meeting between the ambassadors, which marked the first direct diplomatic talks between the two countries in decades. Hezbollah opposes the talks between Lebanon and Israel.
"The United States is going to work with Lebanon in order to help it protect itself from Hezbollah," Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social.
Speaking to reporters alongside Trump in the Oval Office, Israel and Lebanon's ambassadors to the United States both thanked Trump for his mediation efforts.
The US president also announced he is set to host Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Lebanese President Joseph Aoun over the next couple of weeks.
US and Iran persist in tense Hormuz standoff
Meanwhile, tensions between Iran and the United States remain high, with the standoff in the Persian Gulf intensifying as both sides continue to seize each other’s vessels.
Earlier on Thursday, Trump ordered the US military to "shoot and kill" any Iranian vessels that are trying to mine the Strait of Hormuz.
Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, Trump said that he doesn't want to be rushed to end the war with Iran as negotiations drag on.
"But I don't want to rush myself. You know, because every story says, 'oh, Trump is under time pressure.' I'm not. No, no. You know who's under time pressure? They are," he said, adding that Iran is in "turmoil" and has a difficult times figuring out who is "leading the country".
A spokesperson for Iran’s Foreign Ministry called the claim “a form of deflection,” and countered that the country was united.
Trump additionally claimed the United States has "complete control" of the strait and decides whether it remains open or closed.
He explained he refused to let Iran reopen the strait because he doesn't "want them to make $500 million a day until they settle this thing".
Iran’s parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf previously said reopening the strait would be “impossible” while the US naval blockade remains in place, calling it a “blatant violation” of the ceasefire.
Iran also accused the US about hindering negotiations through “breach of commitments, blockade and threats," while Tehran is open to “dialogue and agreement," Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian wrote on X late on Wednesday.
Israel, on its end, said it is prepared to resume war against Iran.
"The IDF is prepared both defensively and offensively, and the targets are marked. We are waiting for a green light from the United States," Israel’s defense minister Israel Katz said in a statement on Thursday.
Funeral for Amal Khalil
Meanwhile, hundreds gathered in the village of Baysariyeh in southern Lebanon to attend the funeral of Lebanese journalist Amal Khalil, who was killed Wednesday in an Israeli airstrike.
Khalil and another journalist had taken shelter in a house when an Israeli airstrike hit a nearby car, killing the two people inside. A second Israeli strike then targeted the house where the two journalists had been hiding.
Lebanese health officials said the Israeli military opened fire on an ambulance that responded, preventing rescuers from reaching Khalil. Her body was recovered from the rubble of the building several hours later.
"Targeting journalists, obstructing access to them by relief teams, and even targeting their locations again after these teams arrive constitutes described war crimes," Prime Minister Nawaf Salam wrote on X.
The Israeli military denied that it had deliberately targeted journalists or fired on rescuers, and said on Wednesday it is reviewing the incident.
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