Just after midnight in Beirut, gunfire signaled not battle but relief: a ten-day ceasefire had begun. Families turned south toward homes they had fled, even as Israeli troops remained in place and Hezbollah stood outside the accord—a pause heavy with hope, and with doubt.
ERBIL (Kurdistan24) – A 10-day ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon went into effect early Friday, pausing weeks of fighting involving Israeli forces and Hezbollah, though key terms of the truce remain contested and its durability uncertain.
Shortly after midnight in Beirut, celebratory gunfire echoed across neighborhoods as residents marked the start of the truce, according to The Associated Press. Displaced families began returning toward southern Lebanon and the capital’s southern suburbs, despite official warnings that conditions on the ground remained unstable and that it was too early to determine whether the ceasefire would hold.
The agreement, announced by U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday, is framed as a temporary halt to hostilities between Israel and Lebanon. However, Hezbollah — the Iran-backed armed group that has been the principal combatant on the Lebanese side — was not directly involved in the negotiations, raising immediate questions about compliance and enforcement.
According to a U.S. State Department statement cited by AP, the terms of the arrangement allow Israel to retain the right to respond to “planned, imminent or ongoing attacks,” while otherwise committing to halt offensive military operations against Lebanese targets. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in a video address, confirmed that Israeli troops would remain in southern Lebanon, where they have established what officials describe as a “security zone” extending approximately 10 kilometers north of the border.
“That is where we are, and we are not leaving,” Netanyahu said, according to the report.
The continued Israeli military presence introduces a central ambiguity into the ceasefire framework. While the agreement pauses active hostilities, it does not resolve the territorial and security disputes that have defined the conflict, nor does it formally bind Hezbollah, which has historically operated independently of the Lebanese state’s diplomatic channels.
A Hezbollah official, speaking to AP on condition of anonymity, described the ceasefire as the outcome of negotiations between the United States and Iran rather than a bilateral Israel-Lebanon understanding. That characterization reflects the broader regional dimension of the conflict, in which Lebanon has functioned as a secondary front linked to escalating tensions between Israel, the United States, and Iran.
The ceasefire follows nearly seven weeks of intensified fighting that began after Hezbollah resumed missile fire into Israel, citing solidarity with Iran amid a wider military confrontation. Israel responded with expanded airstrikes and a ground incursion into southern Lebanon, escalating a pattern of near-daily exchanges that had persisted since the Gaza war and a previous ceasefire agreement in November 2024.
The human toll has been significant. According to figures reported by AP, more than 2,100 people have been killed in Lebanon, alongside 23 in Israel and over a dozen in Gulf Arab states. The broader regional conflict has also resulted in at least 3,000 deaths in Iran and the loss of 13 U.S. service members.
The diplomatic pathway to the current truce was unusually direct. A White House official told AP that Israeli and Lebanese ambassadors met in Washington — the first such engagement in decades — followed by a series of coordinated phone calls involving Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Lebanese President Joseph Aoun subsequently endorsed the agreement after consultations with U.S. officials.
In a reponse to a question by Kurdistan24’s correspondent, Trump said the ceasefire could open the way for further talks between Israeli and Lebanese representatives, potentially in Washington. “They will probably be meeting… over the next four or five days,” he said, describing the possibility of direct engagement between the two countries after more than four decades without formal talks.
The ceasefire is also tied to a wider set of negotiations involving Iran. Iranian officials had previously conditioned progress in talks with the United States on a halt to Israeli operations in Lebanon, according to AP. In that sense, the truce addresses one of several interconnected fronts in a broader regional confrontation.
Parallel diplomatic efforts are underway. Pakistan’s army chief met with Iran’s parliament speaker on Thursday as part of attempts to extend a separate ceasefire related to the Iran conflict. Regional officials cited by AP said there is an “in-principle agreement” between the United States and Iran to prolong that truce to allow additional negotiations on key issues, including Iran’s nuclear program, the status of the Strait of Hormuz, and compensation for wartime damages.
The Strait of Hormuz remains a critical variable. Iran closed the waterway earlier in the conflict, disrupting a route that typically carries about one-fifth of global oil supply. While oil prices have recently declined on expectations of de-escalation, the head of the International Energy Agency, Fatih Birol, warned in comments to AP that energy markets remain vulnerable. Europe, he said, may have “maybe six weeks or so” of jet fuel reserves if the disruption continues.
European governments are attempting to address that risk. Leaders from France and the United Kingdom are convening a meeting of multiple countries to coordinate efforts to reopen the strait, though the United States is not participating in that initiative, according to the report.
Within Lebanon, the immediate focus remains on whether the cessation of hostilities will translate into sustained stability. The return of displaced civilians to contested areas underscores both the urgency of the humanitarian situation and the fragility of the arrangement. Israeli forces remain deployed, Hezbollah’s position is not formally defined within the agreement, and enforcement mechanisms appear limited to political assurances rather than joint monitoring structures.
Trump, speaking publicly, suggested that the ceasefire could be extended if negotiations show progress. “If we’re close to a deal… I would do that,” he said, according to AP.
For now, the truce represents a pause rather than a resolution. Its significance lies less in its immediate terms than in the diplomatic channels it has reopened — between Israel and Lebanon, and more broadly between Washington and Tehran — even as core disputes over territory, security, and regional influence remain unresolved.