Trump says Israel and Lebanon have agreed to extend ceasefire by three weeks
Issued on: 23/04/2026 - 04:55Modified: 24/04/2026 - 03:23
1 min Reading time Share By: FRANCE 24 / Natasha LI
President Donald Trump on Thursday announced a three-week extension of the ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon. This comes after Trump ordered the US Navy "to shoot and kill any boat" that is laying mines in the Strait of Hormuz, and announced that US minesweepers were working "at a tripled-up level" to clear mines from the waters. Follow our liveblog to see how the day's events unfolded.
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24/04/2026 - 03:23This liveblog is no longer being updated.
23/04/2026 - 23:49Rubio denies US trying to exclude Iran players from World Cup
The United States will not exclude Iran from the World Cup tournament it is hosting, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Thursday, after an official mused about replacing war-battered Iran with Italy, which did not qualify.
“The problem with Iran, it would be not their athletes. It would be some of the other people that we want to bring with them,” Rubio told reporters, denying Washington had asked the Iranian team not to come.
23/04/2026 - 23:46Trump says Israeli and Lebanese leaders may meet in next few weeks
US President Donald Trump said Thursday he expected the Israeli and Lebanese leaders to meet with him over the next couple of weeks and voiced hope for a permanent peace deal this year.
“I think there’s a very good chance of having peace. I think it should be an easy one,” Trump told reporters as he met the Lebanese and Israeli ambassadors to announce an extension of a shaky ceasefire.
23/04/2026 - 23:40Trump to have three-way meeting with Netanyahu and Lebanon president
23/04/2026 - 23:40Trump sees 'great' chance of Israel-Lebanon peace deal this year
23/04/2026 - 23:26Trump says Israel-Lebanon ceasefire will be extended by three weeks
US President Donald Trump on Thursday announced that an Israel–Lebanon ceasefire would be extended by three weeks, despite sporadic fighting on the ground.
“The ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon will be extended by THREE WEEKS,” Trump said in a social media posting as he met envoys of Israel and Lebanon.
23/04/2026 - 22:51Truce without talks: What room for diplomacy between US and Iran?
How to mediate between Iran and the United States when one side wants revenge for the killing of its leader and the other’s erratic messaging seems ratings driven?
Watch FRANCE 24's The Debate programme to learn more.
Hezbollah fires rockets at northern Israel
Hezbollah said on Thursday it fired rockets at northern Israel in response to the country's ceasefire "violations", as Lebanon and Israel's US ambassadors were set to meet in Washington.
"In defence of Lebanon and its people, and in response to the Israeli enemy's violation of the ceasefire and its targeting of the town of Yater in southern Lebanon," Hezbollah "targeted the Shtula settlement with a rocket salvo", the Iran-backed militant group said in a statement.
The Israeli military said "several launches that crossed from Lebanon into Israeli territory were identified" and intercepted.
23/04/2026 - 22:35Global stocks dip as hopes for quick end to US-Iran conflict wane
Global stocks mostly fell Thursday, retreating after recent gains as investors tempered their enthusiasm for a quick end to the Middle East war.
The benchmark international oil contract, Brent North Sea crude, rose further above $100 a barrel, rekindling fears of pervasive inflation that could dent economic growth around the globe. Wall Street's main indexes finished lower after a volatile session, joining most markets in Europe and Asia in retreating.
US investors were more preoccupied with high oil prices on Thursday than most recent days, said Art Hogan of B. Riley Wealth Management, noting that the market has been on an upswing since late March.
"There's still a tug of war between the fundamentals, the earnings that have been better than expected thus far and the fact that the news coming out of the Strait of Hormuz has not gotten more constructive," Hogan said.
23/04/2026 - 22:27Israeli strike kills three people in southern Lebanon, health ministry says
An Israeli strike on southern Lebanon killed three people on Thursday, the Lebanese health ministry said, the latest attack despite a 10-day truce in the Israel-Hezbollah war.
In a statement, the ministry said that "an Israeli airstrike on the Shoukine road in the Nabatieh district", more than 30 kilometres (20 miles) north of Israel, killed three people while a strike on the village of Yater wounded two people, including a child.
The attacks occurred just hours ahead of the second meeting between Lebanon and Israel's US ambassadors in Washington, where Beirut is expected to ask for a ceasefire extension.
23/04/2026 - 22:22Trump rules out using nuclear weapon against Iran
US President Donald Trump on Thursday ruled out striking Iran with a nuclear weapon, after his previous threats to completely destroy Iranian civilization.
"A nuclear weapon should never be allowed to be used by anybody," Trump told reporters at the White House.
23/04/2026 - 22:12Americans should expect to pay more for gas 'for a little while', Trump says
US President Trump on Thursday told reporters that Americans should expect to pay higher gas prices "for a little while".
Energy prices have risen around the world since the start of the Iran war in late February.
23/04/2026 - 21:30Pope calls for new 'culture of peace', urges US and Iran to resume talks
Pope Leo XIV urged the United States and Iran to return to talks to end the war Thursday and condemned capital punishment, in a wide-ranging press conference en route home from his trip to Africa.
After a trip that was dominated by the very public back and forth between Leo and US President Donald Trump over the war, Leo urged the United States and Iran to return to negotiations.
He called for a new “culture of peace” to replace the recourse to violence whenever conflicts arise. He said the question wasn’t whether the Iran regime should change or not.
“The question should be about how to promote the values we believe in without the deaths of so many innocents.”
Pope Leo XIV speaks to journalists aboard the papal flight from Malabo to Rome on April 23, 2026, at the end of his 11-day pastoral visit to Africa. (Andrew Medichini/POOL/AFP)
23/04/2026 - 21:10US in no rush but 'clock is ticking' for Iran, Trump says
President Donald Trump said Thursday that the United States is under no pressure to end the war with Iran, but "the clock is ticking" for Tehran, as disruption from the conflict batters the world economy.
"I have all the time in the World, but Iran doesn't – The clock is ticking!" Trump said on social media, adding that Iran's military was destroyed and "their leaders are no longer with us, the Blockade is airtight and strong and, from there, it only gets worse."
USS George H.W. Bush aircraft carrier arrives in Middle East, US military says
The USS George H.W. Bush aircraft carrier has arrived in the Middle East, the US military said Thursday, bringing the number of the massive American warships operating in the region to three.
The Bush was sailing "in the Indian Ocean in the US Central Command area of responsibility, April 23," the military command responsible for the Middle East said in a post on X that included an image of the carrier with its deck packed with warplanes.
A second carrier – the USS Gerald R. Ford – was operating in the Red Sea on Thursday, while a third – the USS Abraham Lincoln – is also in the region, according to social media posts by CENTCOM.
Trump to meet Lebanon, Israel envoys at White House talks, US official says
US President Donald Trump will meet Israeli and Lebanese envoys when they hold a second round of peace talks Thursday, a US official said.
"The ambassador-level talks between Israel and Lebanon will now take place at the White House," the official said on customary condition of anonymity. "President Trump will greet both representatives upon their arrival."
Israel-Lebanon talks
FRANCE 24's Marc Daou explains how the Israel-Lebanon talks that led to the May 17 Agreement of 1983 -- a deal signed by both parties but never implemented -- are overshadowing the latest round of negotiations in Washington.
23/04/2026 - 18:27Israel awaiting US green light to 'return Iran to Stone Age', defence minister Katz says
Defence minister Israel Katz said on Thursday that Israel was "prepared to resume the war against Iran", adding that his country was awaiting a green light from the United States to return Iran to "the Stone Age".
"The IDF is ready both defensively and offensively, and the targets have been marked," Katz said in a video statement.
"We are awaiting a green light from the United States – first and foremost to complete the elimination of the Khamenei dynasty ... and additionally to return Iran to the Dark Age and the Stone Age by destroying key energy and electricity facilities and dismantling its national economic infrastructure."
23/04/2026 - 17:15Lebanon leaders accuse Israel of war crime after death of journalist Amal Khalil
Lebanon's leaders accused Israel on Thursday of committing a war crime after an air strike killed Lebanese journalist Amal Khalil in the country's south.
The 42-year-old journalist worked for the Lebanese daily Al-Akhbar and was confirmed dead by rescuers and her employer on Wednesday. The civil defence agency said she was killed in a strike on a house in the village of Al-Tiri.
Journalists gathered in Martyrs' Square in Beirut on Thursday to remember her, some carrying a copy of the newspaper, Al Akhbar, which featured a front page photo of Khalil.
"Israel deliberately targets journalists in order to conceal the truth about its crimes against Lebanon," said President Joseph Aoun, in a statement denouncing "war crimes".
Prime Minister Nawaf Salam wrote on X that "targeting journalists and obstructing access for rescue teams constitutes a war crime", adding that his government would take the case to international bodies.
When contacted by AFP on Thursday, an Israeli army spokesperson said "the incident is still under review".
Journalists hold up newspapers showing portraits of Lebanese journalist Amal Khalil who was killed on Wednesday in an Israeli airstrike, during a sit-in against her killing and other journalists in Beirut, Lebanon, Thursday, April 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
23/04/2026 - 16:29Israeli troops kill West Bank teen, Palestinian Authority says
Israeli troops killed a 15-year-old boy during a raid in the occupied West Bank city of Nablus on Thursday, the Palestinian Authority's health ministry said.
In a short statement, the ministry announced that "15-year-old Youssef Sameh Shtayyeh was killed by the (Israeli) occupation's gunfire in Nablus", in the north of the West Bank.
Contacted by AFP about the incident, the Israeli military said it was looking into it.
Yesterday's key developments:
- On the eve of talks in Washington between the Lebanese and Israeli ambassadors, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said Beirut's envoy to Thursday's talks, Lebanese Ambassador to Washington Nada Moawad, would seek a ceasefire extension and a halt to demolitions being carried out by Israel in villages in the south.
- White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Wednesday in an interview with Fox News that Iran must agree to turn over its enriched uranium to the United States as part of negotiations to end the war.
- US President Donald Trump has not set a deadline by which Iran must submit a peace proposal, the White House said on Wednesday.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP, Reuters and AP)
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