Source : Perth Now news
US President Donald Trump says Israel and the Hezbollah movement in Lebanon have agreed to halt their attacks on each other for the time being.
Trump also said Israel would not send troops into the Lebanese capital Beirut, despite earlier threats to do so.
The US president said the development followed a “very productive” phone call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and a “very good” conversation with senior Hezbollah representatives.
“I had a very productive call with Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu, of Israel, and there will be no Troops going to Beirut, and any Troops that are on their way, have already been turned back,” he wrote on Truth Social.
“Likewise, through highly placed Representatives, I had a very good call with Hezbollah, and they agreed that all shooting will stop – That Israel will not attack them, and they will not attack Israel.”
Tensions between Israel and the Iran-aligned Hezbollah movement have escalated sharply in recent days.
Although Israel and the Lebanese government, which is not a party to the conflict, agreed to a ceasefire in mid-April, Hezbollah has rejected negotiations with Israel and fighting has continued.
Both sides have carried out daily attacks, with casualties reported regularly, particularly in Lebanon.
Netanyahu had threatened further strikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs.
Israeli forces have advanced deep into Lebanese territory but remain far from the capital.
Representatives of Israel and Lebanon have been holding talks in Washington DC for several weeks on conditions for de-escalating the conflict and further discussions are scheduled to take place on Tuesday.
Trump also said on Monday that talks with Iran were ongoing despite a report that Iran had suspended indirect negotiations with the United States.
“Talks are continuing, at a rapid pace, with the Islamic Republic of Iran,” Trump said in an online post.
Iranian state news agency Tasnim reported earlier that Iran was halting indirect negotiations with the US after Israel ordered troops to push deeper into Lebanon.
In telephone interviews with news outlets after that report, Trump said he had not been told that Iran was suspending talks with the US.
“They haven’t informed us of that,” Trump said in an interview with NBC News.
Trump said that silence between the two sides would be fine and he was willing to wait.
“I think we’ve been talking too much if you want to know the truth. I think going silent would be very good, and that could be for a long time,” he told NBC.
A suspension in negotiations would not mean the US would start bombing Iran, Trump told the network, adding that the US blockade of Iranian ports would remain in place.
with DPA
