U.S. President Donald Trump announced on April 23 that the ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon will be extended for three weeks, after an Oval Office meeting with envoys of both governments, as well as his senior national security team.
The extension extends a 10-day truce brokered by the Trump administration on April 16, which was set to expire at the end of the week.
“The Ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon will be extended by THREE WEEKS,” Trump wrote on Truth Social, noting that the meeting “went very well.” He called the session “Historic” and said he would also host Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Lebanese President Joseph Aoun at the White House “in the near future.”
Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, and U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Michel Issa accompanied the president. Israel’s ambassador to the United States, Yechiel Leiter, and Lebanon’s ambassador, Nada Hamadeh Moawad, joined the meeting on behalf of their governments.
“It was a Great Honor to be a participant at this very Historic Meeting!” Trump wrote.
Trump said the United States would partner with Lebanon to help it “protect itself from Hezbollah,” the Iran-backed militia that operates in the country’s south. He did not clarify what kind of assistance would be offered, or whether it would entail American military aid. Washington has long financed the Lebanese Armed Forces.
Hezbollah holds seats in Lebanon’s parliament and operates an armed wing that works independently of the national military. The U.S. State Department has designated the group a foreign terrorist organization since 1997.
Israeli negotiators are pushing for the disarmament of Hezbollah, and Trump has made clear Israeli forces will remain in an “extensive” security zone inside Lebanon during the duration of the truce. Hezbollah has not publicly endorsed the agreement.
Hezbollah continues to fire rockets at Shtula, a village in northern Israel, the Israeli military said during the negotiation. The military said it intercepted several launches and struck rocket launchers in southern Lebanon as a response. An Israeli attack in Lebanon earlier in the day killed a local journalist, according to Lebanese officials.