Two Hezbollah sources told the Reuters news agency that the group has implemented a ceasefire with Israel.
It comes after a senior US official told the agency that the two sides had agreed to a ceasefire set to begin at 4pm local time (13:00 GMT) today.
Israel and Hezbollah have agreed to renew a ceasefire, according to multiple sources familiar with the situation.
The ceasefire was expected to start at 4 p.m. local time (9 a.m. ET) and was mediated by the US and Qatar, according to one person familiar. Another diplomatic source with knowledge of the situation said the deal was mediated by Qatar, the US and Iran.
Barak argued that Netanyahu “could sabotage the elections by launching operations in Lebanon that would provoke retaliation from Hezbollah and Iran.
“Netanyahu wants an endless war because he understands that ending it would accelerate his trial,” Barak said. “Just as he obstructed some prisoner-exchange deals (with Hamas), he also blocked the possibility of progress in Lebanon.”
Netanyahu is currently standing trial in Israel on corruption charges and is also wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) since 2024 on allegations of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
Israel has the right to defend itself against threats, but the attack it was responding to was very small and meaningless, nobody was hurt, injured, or killed, and should not disrupt this important process. We are very close to a Deal that will bring peace to the region, including to Lebanon, and all sides should stand down. There should be no more attacks by Israel anywhere in Lebanon, but there should also be no more attacks by any other party, including Hezbollah, against Israel. This could be the beginning of a long and beautiful peace — Let’s not blow it! Thank you for your attention to this matter. President DONALD J. TRUMP
Hezbollah has issued a statement claiming to have shot down an Israeli drone over the Nahle area in the Bekaa Valley.
Lebanon’s National News Agency also reported an Israeli drone being downed in the area, where it said several Israeli air raids had occurred.
Additional airstrikes hit the area between Deir Qanoun Al Nahr and Abbassiyeh, while the town of Toura was also targeted. Israeli warplanes later carried out a separate strike on Abbassiyeh.
According to local reports, Israeli forces attempted to advance from the Tayr Harfa–Jebbayn axis toward a nearby valley in what appeared to be a move toward the town. The operation coincided with more than 15 airstrikes on Majdal Zoun and Wadi Hassan, as well as intense artillery shelling.
Clashes were reported between Israeli forces and Hezbollah fighters, involving rocket fire and an explosive drone. The fighting reportedly continued into the night before Israeli forces withdrew from the area.
A peacekeeper died early Thursday morning from injuries sustained when mortar shells struck his position in southeastern Lebanon the previous night, the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) said.
Likewise, through highly placed Representatives, I had a very good call with Hezbollah, and they agreed that all shooting will stop — That Israel will not attack them, and they will not attack Israel. President DONALD J. TRUMP
Hezbollah has published footage it says shows first-person-view drone attacks on Israeli positions and vehicles in southern Lebanon. See more below.
The Lebanese armed group has said that its forces “confronted an Israeli warplane in the airspace of the western sector” at 14:15 local time with a surface-to-air missile.
There was no immediate comment from the Israeli army.
NNA – „Hezbollah“ announced in communiqués that “the ‘’Islamic Resistance“ targeted a Merkava tank in the town of Rashaf with a loitering glider and achieved a confirmed hit.
The „Islamic Resistance“ also intercepted an Israeli enemy army drone in the airspace of the Tyre region with a surface-to-air missile.
On April 14, the Lebanese and Israeli ambassadors to the United States, Nada Hamadeh and Yechiel Leiter, met in Washington with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio. The goal is ostensibly to extend the ceasefire while working “on longer term disarming of Hezbollah, along with a peace deal between the countries.” During the two hours in which the meeting took place, Israel bombed at least 23 towns in southern Lebanon; afterward, Leiter said that both Israel and Lebanon were united in “liberating Lebanon” from Hezbollah.
This came less than a week after one of the most violent days in Lebanese history. On April 8, Israeli warplanes ravaged large parts of the country, killing at least 303 people and wounding 1,150.
Among the consequences of the war was the Syrian occupation of Lebanon until 2005; the Israeli occupation of southern Lebanon until 2000; the creation of the Hezbollah, a Shiʿi militia formed to confront Israel and later adapted into a political party and social welfare network; the expulsion of the PLO from Lebanon; and the rebuilding of Lebanon by a handful of businessmen, including the two-time prime minister (1992–98; 2000–04) Rafic al-Hariri. (…)
With Palestinian forces continuing to conduct cross-border raids into Israel, Israel launched a major reprisal attack in March 1978, sending troops into the south of Lebanon as far as the Litani River. The resulting conflict led to the establishment of the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL)—a peacekeeping force meant to secure Israeli withdrawal and support the return of Lebanese authority in the south—as well as to the creation of the South Lebanese Army (SLA)—a militia led by Saad Haddad and armed and financed by Israel to function as a proxy militia under Lebanese Christian command.
“Any presumed truce that grants the occupying enemy in Lebanon a special exception to open fire or carry out any movement or field action in confrontation areas and within Lebanese territory—whether to secure a position, plant a mine, carry out an assassination, blow up a house or facility, bulldoze land, or the like—is not a truce at all. Rather, it is cunning deception and an insult to others’ intelligence, entailing cover for Israeli aggression and turning a blind eye to the enemy’s continued violations and breaches,” the statement read.
“The authority should be ashamed before its people and withdraw from what has been called direct negotiations with the Zionist enemy. What we fear most from the insistence on this sin is that the country will fall into something worse than what it was dragged into on the ominous May 17 in the early 1980s.”
Durchaus als historisch zu bezeichnen ist hingegen das Versagen der libanesischen Regierung. Sie nimmt mit ihrem Versuch, die Hisbollah zu entwaffnen, nicht nur in Kauf, dass die libanesische Bevölkerung der israelischen Kriegs- und Annexionsmaschinerie ausgeliefert wird. Sie riskiert auch einen Bürgerkrieg.
(today)
UN-Soldaten beseitigten auf einer Straße im Süden Libanons Sprengsätze. Dabei gerieten sie unter Beschuss. Ein französischer Soldat wurde getötet. Frankreich vermutet die pro-iranische Hisbollah hinter dem Angriff.
Hezbollah on Saturday denied it was involved in a deadly attack on United Nations peacekeepers (UNIFIL) in South Lebanon, after France accused the group of being behind the incident.
„Hezbollah denies any connection to the incident that occurred with UNIFIL forces in the Ghandouriyeh-Bint Jbeil area, and calls for caution in making judgments and assigning responsibilities regarding the incident pending the Lebanese Army‘s investigations to determine the full circumstances of the incident,“ the group said in a statement.
One peacekeeper was killed and three others wounded from the French battalion, with Paris blaming Hezbollah.
18 April 2026
This morning, a UNIFIL patrol clearing explosive ordnance along a road in the village of Ghanduriyah to re-establish links with isolated UNIFIL positions came under small-arms fire from non-state-actors. Tragically, one peacekeeper succumbed to his injuries and three others were injured, two of them seriously.
The injured peacekeepers have been taken to medical facilities for treatment.
We extend our most sincere condolences to the family, friends, and colleagues of the brave peacekeeper who lost his life in service of peace. Our thoughts and wishes go out for the full and speedy recovery of the injured peacekeepers.
UNIFIL condemns this deliberate attack on peacekeepers engaged in their mandated tasks. The work of explosive ordnance disposal teams is vital in the mission’s area of operations especially in the wake of the recent hostilities.
UNIFIL has launched an investigation to determine the circumstances surrounding this tragic incident. Initial assessment indicates the fire came from non-state actors (allegedly Hizbullah).
We reiterate the obligations of all actors under international law and to ensure the safety and security of UN personnel and property at all times. Deliberate attacks on peacekeepers are grave violations of international humanitarian law and of Security Council Resolution 1701, and may amount to war crimes.
UNIFIL calls on the Government of Lebanon to swiftly initiate an investigation to identify and hold the perpetrators accountable for the crimes committed against UNIFIL peacekeepers.
Macron named the soldier as Florian Montorio, a staff sergeant in the 17th Parachute Engineer Regiment of Montauban serving with Unifil, the United Nations‘ peacekeeping mission in Lebanon.
He was killed on Saturday morning in southern Lebanon, the president said in a post on X. The three soldiers wounded in the same attack were evacuated, he added.
„Everything suggests that Hezbollah is responsible for this attack,“ Macron said. „France demands that the Lebanese authorities immediately arrest the perpetrators and assume their responsibilities alongside Unifil.“
But Hezbollah denied any connection to the attack. In a statement, the group urged „caution in making judgments and assigning responsibilities“ pending the results of an investigation by the Lebanese army.
Al-Moussawi’s statement that this ceasefire is based on the original Iranian deal reached with the U.S. contradicts claims by Trump and Netanyahu that Lebanon would not be included, and by the U.S. State Department that the Lebanon ceasefire be a wholly separate deal.
„They went back to the same ceasefire agreement that has been reached to in Islamabad by the Iranian initiative,” Al-Moussawi told Drop Site. „We will be respecting the ceasefire and we will deal with it cautiously, actually. And the Israelis have to abide by it completely, comprehensively in all of the Lebanese territories, including the areas bordering Palestine. And it should include total cessation of the hostilities and restraint to the movement of the Israelis to stop their assassinations. And it should hopefully be a beginning of a course of the Israeli withdrawal from our occupied territories.“
We condemn in the strongest terms the attacks of Hezbollah against Israel which must cease immediately. We also condemn in the strongest terms the massive Israeli strikes on Lebanon conducted on 8 April which, according to the latest information shared by the Lebanese authorities, resulted in the death of more than 350 persons and wounded more than 1000. Civilians and civilian infrastructure must be protected in accordance with international humanitarian law.
We also condemn in the strongest terms the attacks against UNIFIL and we reiterate that the safety and security of UN peacekeepers must be ensured at all times.
We express our full solidarity and our steadfast support for the Lebanese people and authorities. We stand ready to provide emergency assistance to the more than one million displaced persons in Lebanon, in coordination with the Lebanese government.
We reaffirm the importance of respecting for Lebanon’s territorial integrity and sovereignty and for the full implementation of United Nations Security Council resolution 1701 (2006). We will continue to support the Lebanese state to exercise its full sovereignty over the whole Lebanese territory. In this context, we commend the decision of the Lebanese government to ban Hezbollah’s military activities, as well as its decision to reinforce the full imposition of state authority over Beirut and to have the sole monopoly on weapons, and we encourage full and swift implementation.
Neben Großbritannien und Frankreich sind die weiteren Unterzeichnerstaaten Australien, Belgien, Dänemark, Finnland, Griechenland, Island, Kroatien, Luxemburg, Malta, Norwegen, Portugal, Schweden, Slowenien, Spanien und Zypern.
In der Erklärung verurteilen die Außenminister auch „in den schärfsten Worten“ die Angriffe der pro-iranischen Miliz Hisbollah auf Israel sowie die „massiven israelischen Luftangriffe auf den Libanon am 8. April, bei denen nach den jüngsten von den libanesischen Behörden veröffentlichten Informationen mehr als 350 Menschen getötet und über 1000 verletzt wurden. In Washington sollen heute Verhandlungen zwischen Israel und dem Libanon beginnen.
(today)
Now, Hezbollah can continue to fire rockets across the border, and it has been doing that. Hezbollah has also been trying to slow Israel’s ground invasion in the south. But as you can see, Israel is the one that has the upper hand. It controls the skies, it can cause death, it can cause destruction, and this is all heaping pressure on the population and on the Lebanese government.
Hezbollah was counting on Iran having the leverage to silence this front, but that has not happened yet, despite statements from Iranian officials.
(March 2, 2026)
In the pre-dawn hours of Monday morning, Hezbollah opened a new front in the US-Israeli war against Iran when it launched “missiles and a swarm of drones” at a military base in northern Israel.
The Iran-backed militant group, which has its power base in southern Lebanon, called it revenge for the killing of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Never mind that Israel says the attack did no damage. One projectile was intercepted, while others fell in open areas.
Or that Lebanon’s Prime Minister Nawaf Salam called it “an irresponsible and suspicious act,” and banned Hezbollah’s military activities.
Israel has been poised for this moment for months.