This story originally appeared in the JC Israel Briefing. You can sign up to receive the briefing daily here.
Israel and Lebanon have agreed to renew the fragile ceasefire between them following talks in Washington DC.
The two countries last night delivered a joint statement in which they announced their intention to create several “pilot” security zones where Hezbollah will be banned.
The statement, released by the US State Department, said the ceasefire “is contingent on a complete cessation of Hezbollah fire and the evacuation of all Hezbollah operatives” from regions south of the Litani River.
Details of how the security zones will be established were not clear but the statement said they would be controlled by Lebanon’s army.
“These steps will enable progress towards a comprehensive peace and security agreement,” it stated.
“All countries reaffirmed that the future of the relationship between Israel and Lebanon must be decided by the two sovereign governments. They rejected any attempt, by any state or non-state actor, to hold Lebanon’s future hostage.
“Israel and Lebanon reaffirmed that they have no hostile intent toward one another and committed to continuing direct negotiations to build confidence, resolve all outstanding issues, and work toward a comprehensive agreement between the two countries.”
Earlier this week US President Donald Trump said that Israel and Hezbollah had agreed to dial down the conflict.
The situation has edged towards boiling point in recent weeks as Iran's proxy terror militia Hezbollah has rained down drones and other deadly projectiles on northern Israel.
The provocation led the Israeli leadership to order strikes on Beirut, following which Iran threatened to walk away from negotiations with the US over the wider conflict.
After the truce was agreed, Israel’s ambassador to the US, Yechiel Leiter, posted on X: “What today’s outcome reiterates: Israel and Lebanon want Iran out of our region.
“Together, we will work to make sure that Iran and its terror proxies won’t continue to wreak havoc on our lives in the name of terror and destruction.”
Earlier in the evening the IDF announced that an operation in southern Lebanon this week revealed a Hezbollah storage facility containing “numerous weapons intended for use against Israeli civilians and IDF soldiers operating in the area”.
The troops used six tons of explosive to dismantle “more than 20 Hezbollah terrorist infrastructure sites in the area,” said the IDF.
This story originally appeared in the JC Israel Briefing. You can sign up to receive the briefing daily here.
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