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Israel and Lebanon agree to ceasefire if Hezbollah stops attacks

2026-06-04 08:15:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

Israel and Lebanon have agreed to renew their fragile ceasefire and establish a number of "pilot" security zones inside Lebanon in which Hezbollah operatives will be barred, the US State Department announced.

The agreement is "conditioned on a complete cessation" of attacks by the Iran-backed armed group Hezbollah, among other conditions.

This comes after Israeli strikes killed at least nine people in southern Lebanon on Wednesday and Hezbollah fired rockets into northern Israel, testing a partial ceasefire agreed on Monday.

The countries "rejected any attempt, by any state or non-state actor, to hold Lebanon's future hostage," the statement said.

The agreement, reached after the fourth round of US-brokered talks in Washington, hinges on the "evacuation of all [Hezbollah] operatives" from an area that Israel controls in southern Lebanon from the Litani River to the border.

Hezbollah is a Shia Muslim political and military group operating in Lebanon and has been involved in a number of violent conflicts with Israel. The group is considered a terrorist organization by Israel and many other countries, including the United Kingdom and the United States.

The statement said the US would help create “pilot zones in which the Lebanese Armed Forces will assume exclusive control of the territory to the exclusion of all non-state actors.” No further details were given on how the zones would operate.

The announcement follows a partial ceasefire agreed on Monday, which Lebanon said would see Israel refrain from bombing Beirut in exchange for Hezbollah not attacking Israel.

The two countries will meet again on June 22 to hold further talks "with a view to reaching a comprehensive agreement." Hezbollah has yet to officially comment on the announcement.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters before the announcement that he hoped they would develop "an action plan for security in [Lebanon], independent of Hezbollah".

The partial ceasefire was tested by Israeli and Hezbollah fire this week.

Lebanon's health ministry said two paramedics were among those killed by Israel on Wednesday, whose ambulance was hit in an attack in the southern Chehour area. A car was also hit south of the capital Beirut.

Meanwhile, the Israeli military said it had intercepted a drone and two projectiles that crossed the border. Hezbollah said it was targeting a concentration of Israeli troops.

Before the announcement on Wednesday evening, Israeli leaders had warned that the country's military would resume attacks on Hezbollah's stronghold in Beirut's southern suburbs, known as Dahieh, if the group launched cross-border attacks on northern Israeli communities.

According to the Lebanese government, the partial ceasefire agreed on Monday stated that "Israel will not launch a large-scale offensive on Beirut in exchange for Hezbollah refraining from launching attacks against Israel."

The government said Hezbollah had confirmed its acceptance, but a member of the group's political council, Mahmoud Qamati, told the BBC on Tuesday: "There was no ceasefire agreement, just protection of Dahieh."