{"id":496162,"date":"2026-06-16T20:43:12","date_gmt":"2026-06-16T20:43:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/496162\/"},"modified":"2026-06-16T20:43:12","modified_gmt":"2026-06-16T20:43:12","slug":"israel-lebanon-talks-said-close-to-yielding-lasting-ceasefire-deal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/496162\/","title":{"rendered":"Israel-Lebanon talks said close to yielding lasting ceasefire deal"},"content":{"rendered":"

Israel and Lebanon are nearing a US-mediated lasting ceasefire agreement, a report said Tuesday, as Israel and American officials insisted that the US-Iran deal signed Sunday does not mandate an IDF withdrawal from the areas of southern Lebanon it currently controls.<\/p>\n

Significant progress has been made in recent talks between Jerusalem and Beirut in Washington, Channel 12 news reported.<\/p>\n

According to the report, details of the agreement are being finalized, and the Lebanese Armed Forces have begun deploying on the ground as part of the emerging deal.<\/p>\n

The framework is also expected to allow residents of southern Lebanon who evacuated amid Israeli strikes on the Hezbollah terror group to return to their homes, the network said.<\/p>\n

The talks, which Israel has said are ultimately aimed at securing a full peace deal while Lebanon has said they are only focused on de-escalation, have faced an uphill battle since the Iran-backed Hezbollah has vowed not to recognize or abide by any deal they yield, raising the prospect of a renewed civil war.<\/p>\n

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Meanwhile,\u00a0US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee reiterated Tuesday that Hezbollah is not included in the deal between the US and Iran, as Tehran continued to insist that Israel was required to halt its offensive in Lebanon under the terms of the agreement. Multiple leaks<\/a> Tuesday night of the deal\u2019s terms, including its purported full text<\/a>, appeared to indicate it includes a full halt to hostilities in Lebanon.<\/p>\n

But in response to Hezbollah claiming that the terror group received assurances from Iran that there will be no nuclear deal without Israel\u2019s withdrawal from Lebanon, Huckabee said that US Secretary of State Marco Rubio \u201cmade clear\u201d that the two issues aren\u2019t connected.<\/p>\n

\u201cIsrael doesn\u2019t need Iran permission to defend itself,\u201d he wrote on X. \u201cThe tether of terror must end.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\"\"<\/a>
\n\t\tUS Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, left, and Vice President JD Vance, right, listen to Israeli Ambassador to the US Yechiel Leiter speak in the Oval Office at the White House, April 23, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo\/Mark Schiefelbein)<\/p>\n

Israeli Ambassador to the US Yechiel Leiter voiced a similar sentiment.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re not going to withdraw from south Lebanon, and the madmen of Tehran have no business poking their nose into this,\u201d Leiter told NPR, asserting that it was \u201ccrystal clear\u201d that any deal with Tehran \u201chas nothing to do with our withdrawal from south Lebanon.\u201d<\/p>\n

But on Tuesday evening, Iran\u2019s Top Joint Military Command, \u200bKhatam al-Anbiya Central \u200cHeadquarters, threatened Israel with a strong response from the Iranian armed forces if it did not stop its attacks in southern Lebanon.<\/p>\n

Israeli troops are currently stationed deep within southern Lebanon, and the Israeli military has struck targets throughout the country, ever since Hezbollah attacked Israel on March 2 in support of Tehran.<\/p>\n

US President Donald Trump said Tuesday<\/a> that Syria should take over from Israel in the fight against Hezbollah, arguing that the Jewish state\u2019s war on the Iran-backed terror group has been too prolonged and indiscriminate.<\/p>\n

\u201cIsrael is fighting Hezbollah too long and too many people are being killed,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m not happy with the way Israel has handled themselves with Lebanon and with Hezbollah. They should have been able to do the job faster. It just goes on forever.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI suggested to Israel to let Syria take care of Hezbollah,\u201d Trump added. \u201cBecause to be honest with you, I think they\u2019d do a better job of doing it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\"\"<\/a>
\n\t\tUS President Donald Trump speaks\u00a0during a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the G7 summit, June 16, 2026, in Evian-les-Bains, France. (AP\/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)<\/p>\n

Those remarks were reportedly met with pushback from both Israeli and Syrian officials, with the Ynet news site quoting an unnamed Israeli official saying they sounded like \u201cvirtual reality,\u201d and the Kan public broadcaster quoting a senior Syrian official as saying Damascus is unwilling to intervene for fear of alienating Arab states, especially without an Israeli pullout from a buffer zone held by the IDF in Syrian territory.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, some hostilities continued Tuesday, with the IDF saying it intercepted several rockets launched by Hezbollah at troops in southern Lebanon in the morning.<\/p>\n

A short while later, the Israeli Air Force struck and destroyed the launcher, the IDF said.<\/p>\n

Additionally, the IDF said it spotted a suspicious vehicle in an area of southern Lebanon where troops were operating. The soldiers fired warning shots, and a strike was later carried out \u201cto remove the threat,\u201d the army said.<\/p>\n

\u05e6\u05d4”\u05dc \u05ea\u05e7\u05e3 \u05d0\u05ea \u05d4\u05de\u05e9\u05d2\u05e8 \u05de\u05de\u05e0\u05d5 \u05e0\u05d5\u05e8\u05d5 \u05e8\u05e7\u05d8\u05d5\u05ea \u05dc\u05e2\u05d1\u05e8 \u05db\u05d5\u05d7\u05d5\u05ea\u05d9\u05e0\u05d5 \u05d1\u05d3\u05e8\u05d5\u05dd \u05dc\u05d1\u05e0\u05d5\u05df<\/p>\n

\u05de\u05d5\u05e7\u05d3\u05dd \u05d9\u05d5\u05ea\u05e8 \u05d4\u05d9\u05d5\u05dd, \u05d7\u05d9\u05dc \u05d4\u05d0\u05d5\u05d5\u05d9\u05e8 \u05d9\u05d9\u05e8\u05d8 \u05de\u05e1\u05e4\u05e8 \u05e8\u05e7\u05d8\u05d5\u05ea \u05e9\u05e9\u05d5\u05d2\u05e8\u05d5 \u05e2\u05dc \u05d9\u05d3\u05d9 \u05d0\u05e8\u05d2\u05d5\u05df \u05d4\u05d8\u05e8\u05d5\u05e8 \u05d7\u05d9\u05d6\u05d1\u05d0\u05dc\u05dc\u05d4 \u05dc\u05e2\u05d1\u05e8 \u05d4\u05de\u05e8\u05d7\u05d1 \u05d1\u05d5 \u05e4\u05d5\u05e2\u05dc\u05d9\u05dd \u05db\u05d5\u05d7\u05d5\u05ea \u05e6\u05d4”\u05dc \u05d1\u05d3\u05e8\u05d5\u05dd \u05dc\u05d1\u05e0\u05d5\u05df. \u05e2\u05dc \u05e4\u05d9 \u05de\u05d3\u05d9\u05e0\u05d9\u05d5\u05ea, \u05dc\u05d0 \u05d4\u05d5\u05e4\u05e2\u05dc\u05d5 \u05d4\u05ea\u05e8\u05e2\u05d5\u05ea.<\/p>\n

\u05ea\u05d5\u05da \u05d6\u05de\u05df \u05e7\u05e6\u05e8, \u05d7\u05d9\u05dc \u05d4\u05d0\u05d5\u05d5\u05d9\u05e8 \u05ea\u05e7\u05e3 \u05d5\u05d4\u05e9\u05de\u05d9\u05d3 \u05d0\u05ea \u05d4\u05de\u05e9\u05d2\u05e8 \u05de\u05de\u05e0\u05d5 \u05e0\u05d5\u05e8\u05d5 \u05d7\u05dc\u05e7\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/6haA3LkRzV<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 \u05e6\u05d1\u05d0 \u05d4\u05d4\u05d2\u05e0\u05d4 \u05dc\u05d9\u05e9\u05e8\u05d0\u05dc (@idfonline) June 16, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

Lebanese media reported four dead in Israeli airstrikes near Nabatieh in southern Lebanon.\n<\/p>\n

Initially, a car was targeted in a drone strike in Mayfadoun, before a second strike hit the area after locals gathered there, Lebanon\u2019s National News Agency reported.<\/p>\n

NNA said a third strike hit another car in the town, and a fourth strike hit a car in the adjacent town of Shoukine.<\/p>\n

There was no immediate comment from the IDF.<\/p>\n

A senior US official told reporters on Monday that the memorandum of understanding signed a day earlier with Iran is not conditioned on Israel withdrawing from Lebanon. However, the deal still envisions a ceasefire that covers Lebanon, as well as Iran, the US official said in a briefing with reporters.<\/p>\n

According to a Monday report in Channel 13 news, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recently held a tense phone call with US Vice President JD Vance in which the latter asked for Israel to scale back the IDF\u2019s presence in Lebanon, but Netanyahu refused.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe IDF won\u2019t withdraw, but from now on, every action will be scrutinized,\u201d a source was quoted by the network as saying.<\/p>\n

Holding a press conference Monday evening, Netanyahu said Israeli troops would remain in the buffer zone in southern Lebanon \u201cfor as long as necessary.\u201d<\/p>\n

Defense Minister Israel Katz said earlier in the day that Israel would not withdraw from southern Lebanon \u201cdespite all the existing pressures and those that will yet come.\u201d<\/p>\n


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The war with Iran has been draining for all of us in Israel. But when I heard about a high casualty incident \u2013 ballistic missile impacts in Arad and Dimona that left nearly 200 people wounded \u2013 I drank a cup of coffee, packed a bag, and headed south.<\/p>\n

There, I spoke with Shilgit, the head of an after-school program for underprivileged youth. Standing outside her destroyed center, Shilgit said it was a miracle that no children were hurt and spoke about the community coming together in the hours since.<\/p>\n

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\u2014 Stav Levaton, military reporter<\/p>\n

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