U.S. President Donald Trump announced on Thursday that Israel and Lebanon agreed to a ceasefire following phone calls that he held with the leaders of both countries.
“I just had excellent conversations with the highly respected President Joseph Aoun, of Lebanon, and Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu, of Israel,” Trump wrote. “These two leaders have agreed that in order to achieve peace between their countries, they will formally begin a 10-day ceasefire at 5 p.m. Eastern Standard Time.”
Trump wrote in a followup post that he would invite Aoun and Netanyahu to the White House for “meaningful talks.”
Neither the Israeli prime minister’s office nor the Lebanese presidency has confirmed the ceasefire agreement. Israeli media reported after Trump made the ceasefire announcement that the Israeli cabinet has yet to meet to hold a vote on a potential truce.
The Lebanese readout of the call between Aoun and Trump said that Trump emphasized his “commitment to meeting the Lebanese request for a ceasefire at the earliest possible time” but did not mention a specific timeline.
On Wednesday, Trump announced that Netanyahu and Aoun would hold a direct telephone call. The Associated Press and other media outlets reported that Aoun refused to speak with Netanyahu directly and that call does not appear to have taken place.
