Middle East crisis live: UN chief calls for Israel-Lebanon ceasefire to be ‘fully’ respected as it comes into effect

Under the Israel-Lebanon truce agreement, Israel reserves the right to defend itself “at any time, against planned, imminent or ongoing attacks”, the US state department has said. But otherwise Israel “will not carry out any offensive military operations against Lebanese targets, including civilian, military and other state targets”.

The wording suggested Israel would maintain the freedom to strike at will, as it did in the months after the ceasefire that ended the previous war, the AP is reporting. This time, Hezbollah said it would respond to any strikes by Israel.

Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency reported that Israeli shelling continued in the villages of Khiam and Dibbine about a half hour after the truce went into effect at midnight Friday local time (2100 GMT Thursday).

Israel’s military said it was looking into reports of shelling and artillery fire in southern Lebanon.

Hezbollah kept firing rockets at northern Israeli towns and communities right up to the start of the ceasefire. Air raid sirens went off in some often-targeted border towns less than 10 minutes before midnight.

The Israel-Lebanon truce came after a meeting between the two countries’ ambassadors in Washington and a flurry of subsequent phone calls from Donald Trump and secretary of state Marco Rubio, according to a White House official.

The meeting on Tuesday was the first direct diplomatic talks between Lebanon and Israel in decades, and in the lead-up Hezbollah had called for Lebanon to pull out.

Trump spoke on Wednesday evening with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who agreed to a ceasefire with certain terms, according to the official, who was not authorised to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity, the Associated Press reports.

Rubio then called Lebanon’s president, Joseph Aoun, who got on board. Trump then spoke with Aoun, and again with Netanyahu.

The state department worked with both governments to formulate a memorandum of understanding for the truce.

Donald Trump has just said the war in Iran is going “swimmingly” and that it “should be ending pretty soon”.

He told supporters at an event in Las Vegas:

The war in Iran is going along swimmingly – we can do whatever we want.”

The US president said earlier that the next meeting between the US and Iran might take place over the weekend, adding to optimism that the Iran war could be nearing an end.

Trump was also quoted as saying that Iran had agreed to hand over its enriched uranium and not to possess nuclear weapons for more than 20 years.

“They’ve agreed to give us back the nuclear dust,” Trump said, referring to the uranium.

Iran’s nuclear activities were a sticking point at talks in Pakistan last weekend.

“We’re going to see what happens,” Trump said at the White House. “But I think we’re very close to making a deal with Iran.”

The Lebanese army claimed early on Friday that Israel had committed violations of the ceasefire in Lebanon that took effect at midnight, including intermittent shelling of several southern Lebanese villages.

In a statement cited by Reuters, the army also called on citizens to hold off on returning to southern villages and towns.

There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military.

The Lebanese army is reportedly urging citizens to delay returning to southern Lebanon towns and villages.

It also claimed there had been intermittent shelling on southern Lebanese villages after the ceasefire with Israel took effect.

Earlier, the Israeli military issued a warning via social media to southern Lebanon residents not to return south of the Litani River despite the ceasefire being in effect. It said the IDF would maintain its positions in the southern Lebanon “in the face of the ongoing terrorist activities of Hezbollah”.

Before that, Hezbollah called on displaced Lebanese residents to delay returning to their homes in southern Lebanon, the Bekaa Valley and Beirut’s southern suburbs before the truce began, urging caution amid what the Iran-backed militant group called Israel’s history of “breaking covenants and agreements”.

Donald Trump says he wants Hezbollah to act “nicely” amid the Israel-Lebanon ceasefire and that there should be “no more killing”.

The US president just posted on his Truth Social platform:

I hope Hezbollah acts nicely and well during this important period of time. It will be an GREAT moment for them if they do. No more killing. Must finally have PEACE! Thank you for your attention to this matter.

British prime minister Keir Starmer will say reopening the strait of Hormuz is a “global responsibility” as he chairs a gathering of world leaders in Paris with Emmanuel Macron on Friday.

The talks come as the 10-day ceasefire agreed by Lebanon and Israel could boost attempts to extend the ceasefire between Iran, the US and Israel.

Starmer will arrive in Paris late on Friday morning to co-host the virtual meeting with Macron and then have lunch with the French president.

About 40 countries and the International Maritime Organisation are expected to be on the call, PA Media reports.

Starmer is expected to tell the summit:

The unconditional and immediate reopening of the strait is a global responsibility, and we need to act to get global energy and trade flowing freely again.

Emmanuel Macron and I are clear in our commitment to establish a multinational initiative to protect freedom of navigation.

We must reassure commercial shipping and support mine clearance operations to ensure a return to global stability and security.”

British foreign secretary Yvette Cooper and defence staff chief Richard Knighton will join Starmer.

The Hormuz strait usually has a fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied petroleum gas passing through but has been effectively shut by Iran amid US-Israeli attacks. Donald Trump has now begun a US blockade of Iran’s oil ports aimed at stemming Tehran’s fossil fuel income.

UN secretary general António Guterres has welcomed the Israel-Lebanon ceasefire and urged “all actors” to fully respect it, his spokesperson said.

Guterres also “commends the role of the United States in facilitating” the truce, Stephane Dujarric said in a statement, adding the UN chief hoped the temporary halt to fighting would “pave the way for negotiations”.

Guterres “urges all actors to fully respect the ceasefire and to comply with their obligations under international law, including international humanitarian law, at all times”, said the statement, which was cited by AFP and may extend beyond Israel and Lebanon to the militant group Hezbollah.

Here are some images coming in from Beirut amid Lebanese celebrations over the two-week ceasefire with Israel.

Gunfire erupted in Beirut’s southern suburbs as the ceasefire with Israel came into effect, according to AFP journalists and AFPTV footage.

Lebanese state media also reported “heavy gunfire” accompanying the start of the 10-day truce, which was announced earlier by Donald Trump and came into force at midnight on Friday (2100 GMT Thursday).

Agence France-Presse journalists reported hearing shots ring out and RPGs erupting into the air shortly after midnight and continuing for well over half an hour, as red bullet traces took off into the sky.

AFPTV footage showed people returning to the city’s southern suburbs, a Hezbollah stronghold, some waving the Iran-backed movement’s yellow flag or carrying portraits of its slain leader Hassan Nasrallah, killed by Israel in 2024.

Videos circulating on social media showed queues of cars in several areas in the south as displaced residents returned to their homes.

The Israeli military has issued an urgent warning to the people of southern Lebanon not to return south of the Litani River despite the ceasefire coming into effect.

Hezbollah earlier called on displaced Lebanese residents to delay returning to their homes in southern Lebanon, the Bekaa Valley and Beirut’s southern suburbs before the ceasefire came into force. The group also urged caution amid what it called Israel’s history of “breaking covenants and agreements”.

The Israel Defence Forces’ later “urgent message” on X was directed to “the residents of southern Lebanon”.

The post on X from the IDF’s Arabic-language spokesperson, Col Avichay Adraee, continued (in a translation):

With the entry of the ceasefire agreement into the implementation phase, the Israel Defense Forces continue to maintain their positions in southern Lebanon in the face of the ongoing terrorist activities of Hezbollah

Out of concern for your safety and the safety of your families’ members – until further notice – you are requested not to move south of the Litani River

Israel has said it will occupy the area under the Litani – about 30km from the Israel-Lebanon border – as part of its so-called buffer zone inside southern Lebanon.

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed on Thursday he had agreed to the 10-day ceasefire with Lebanon to try to advance a peace accord between the countries, but said he would not agree to Lebanon’s demand to withdraw from all Lebanese territory.

“We are remaining in Lebanon in an expanded security zone,” Netanyahu said, due to the “danger of an invasion” and to prevent fire into Israel.

That is where we are, and we are not leaving.”

• A 10-day ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon has come into effect, pausing fighting in a devastating conflict between Israel and Hezbollah that has killed more than 2,100 Lebanese people and displaced over 2.1 million. The agreement was announced earlier by Donald Trump, who said he had spoken with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Lebanese president Joseph Aoun, and invited both leaders “for meaningful talks” at the White House. Both leaders welcomed the agreement. But how long the ceasefire will hold is the key question, as both Israel and Hezbollah have maintained their right to defend themselves if the truce is broken. Here’s our report.

• Netanyahu called it a “historic” opportunity for peace, though he refused to withdraw his troops from southern Lebanon during the pause in fighting. “We are remaining in Lebanon in an expanded security zone,” Netanyahu said, due to the “danger of an invasion” and to prevent fire into Israel. “That is where we are, and we are not leaving,” he said. The Israeli PM maintained that his key demand was dismantling Hezbollah. He has previously declared his intention to occupy southern Lebanon up to the Litani River – about 18 miles from the border – while Lebanon demands the complete withdrawal of Israeli forces and for displaced residents to be able to return to their homes.

• Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei welcomed the ceasefire and stressed that it was already part of the original Iran-US agreement brokered by Pakistan. Baghaei said Iran emphasised “from the outset” the need for a “simultaneous ceasefire throughout the region, including Lebanon”, and expressed his “solidarity” with the people and government of Lebanon. He called for the return of displaced residents to their homes and emphasised the necessity of the “complete withdrawal” of Israeli forces from the south of the country – which, as I’ve said, Israel has refused to do.

• The Lebanese army urged residents to “exercise restraint” in returning to their villages and towns in southern Lebanon ahead of the ceasefire coming into effect. The army added that even then residents should avoid areas that remain occupied by Israeli forces. It was followed by a similar statement issued by Hezbollah, urging caution amid Israel’s history of “breaking covenants and agreements”.

• In the hours before the ceasefire took effect, Israel and Hezbollah continued to exchange fire. Just as the ceasefire came into force, the IDF said it had hit more than 380 Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon in the last 24 hours, including rocket launchers, headquarters and Hezbollah members themselves. Meanwhile, Israeli strikes on Lebanese towns and villages killed dozens of people, including an attack on the town of Ghazieh which killed at least seven people and wounded 33, the health ministry said on Thursday.

The 10-day ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon – announced earlier by Donald Trump – has now come into effect, pausing a devastating conflict that has displaced more than 1.2 million Lebanese people and killed over 2,100.

Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Lebanon’s president Joseph Aoun reached the agreement after discussions with the US president, Trump said on Truth Social earlier. In a follow-up post, Trump said he had invited Aoun and Netanyahu to the White House for “meaningful talks”.

Aoun welcomed the agreement, while Netanyahu called it a “historic” opportunity for peace, though the Israeli PM has refused to withdraw his troops from southern Lebanon during the pause in fighting.

Israel and Hezbollah have continued to exchange fire in the hours leading up the ceasefire, with both parties maintaining their right to defend themselves if the truce is broken.

Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei has welcomed the ceasefire, according Iranian state media, and stressed that it was already part of the original Iran-US agreement brokered by Pakistan.

Baghaei said Iran emphasised “from the outset” the need for a “simultaneous ceasefire throughout the region, including Lebanon”, and expressed his “solidarity” with the people and government of Lebanon.

He called for the return of displaced residents to their homes and emphasised the necessity of the “complete withdrawal” of Israeli forces from the south of the country – something Israel has refused to do.

Baghaei also credited Pakistan’s efforts over the past 24 hours in securing the 10-day pause.

Hezbollah has issued a statement calling on displaced Lebanese residents to delay returning to their homes in southern Lebanon, the Bekaa Valley and Beirut’s southern suburbs before the ceasefire comes into effect.

In the statement, carried by Lebanon’s National News Agency, the group urged caution amid Israel’s history of “breaking covenants and agreements”.

With the announcement of the ceasefire, and in the face of a treacherous enemy that is accustomed to breaking covenants and agreements, we call on you to be patient and not to head to the targeted areas in the South, the Bekaa and the southern suburbs of Beirut, until the course of events becomes fully clear.

We understand the extent of your longing to return to your villages and homes, and we appreciate the patience and steadfastness you have shown to the whole world. However, out of concern for your safety and your precious lives, we call upon you to be patient and endure.

It echoes a similar message issued by the Lebanese army urging residents to “exercise restraint” following the announcement of the ceasefire agreement.

We’re just under an hour out from the ceasefire going into effect at midnight local time, and the Israeli military has said it’s striking launchers from which Hezbollah launched rockets toward northern Israel.

The launchers fired rockets towards northern Israel “a short while ago”, the IDF said on Telegram. Minutes earlier, it said search and rescue forces were operating at sites in northern Israel “where reports of impacts have been received”.

Meanwhile, in the past few hours, Israeli forces have continued to strike Lebanon’s south, killing dozens of people.

An Israeli strike on the southern Lebanese town of Ghazieh killed at least seven people and wounded 33, the health ministry said on Thursday, hours before the 10-day ceasefire is due to take effect.

Lebanese state media reported a “massacre against civilians” in the town, noting that rubble removal operations are ongoing, while the health ministry said its toll is “preliminary and not final”.

An Israeli air strike on the town of Adloun in the Sidon district killed three people and wounded 21 others. Israel also struck the town of Marjayoun, as well as the villages of Sajd and Hanaway, and the Burj Shemali Palestinian refugee camp.

Air raids were also reported in the Bint Jbeil district, which Israel had been attacking heavily in recent days, and several other towns, Al Jazeera reports.

The Lebanese army has urged residents to “exercise restraint” in returning to their villages and towns in southern Lebanon until the ceasefire agreement comes into force at midnight local time.

The army added that even then residents should avoid areas that remain occupied by Israeli forces.

The army also stressed the need for residents to follow instructions issued by deployed military units for their safety, and urged caution over potential unexploded ordnance and suspicious objects left behind from Israeli attacks, calling on residents to report them to the nearest military post.

The US state department has issued an outline of the details of the ten-day ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon that will begin at 5pm EST on Thursday.

It says that both parties, having met for face-to-face talks in Washington this week, “affirm that the two countries are not at war and commit to engaging in good-faith direct negotiations, facilitated by the United States”.

The ceasefire is described as “a gesture of goodwill by the Government of Israel, intended to enable good-faith negotiations toward a permanent security and peace agreement between Israel and Lebanon”.

It also “may be extended by mutual agreement” if negotiations show signs of progress and as “Lebanon effectively demonstrates its ability to assert its sovereignty” (i.e. curb Hezbollah).

However, it reiterates Israel’s right “to take all necessary measures in self-defense, at any time, against planned, imminent, or ongoing attacks”.

Once the ceasefire begins, the Lebanese government, with international support, “will take meaningful steps to prevent Hezbollah and all other rogue non-state armed groups” in its country, it goes on.

All parties involved in the ceasefire recognise the “exclusive responsibility for Lebanon’s sovereignty and national defense”, it says.

And finally, it states that Israel and Lebanon have asked that the US “further direct negotiations between the two countries with the objective of resolving all remaining issues”, including the demarcation of borders and a long-term peace deal.

Donald Trump says he expects leaders from Israel and Lebanon in “four or five days”.

Trump ​spoke to both leaders as ​the ceasefire was announced. He said he was working on ​a longer term deal.

“It’s ​very exciting. I think we’re going ‌to ⁠have a deal where we’re going to have a meeting, first time in ​44 years, ​and ⁠Lebanon will be meeting with Israel, and ​they’re probably going ​to ⁠do it at the White House over the next ⁠week ​or two,” Trump ​said, as reported by Reuters.