Middle East crisis Israel-Hezbollah

Trump: US bans Israel from bombing Lebanon

Iran will give the US all its enriched uranium for free as part of an agreement between the countries, claims Donald Trump in a post on Truth Social.

This agreement does not depend on developments in Lebanon, according to the president, who adds that the US will continue to handle the situation with Lebanon and Hezbollah "in an appropriate manner".

"Israel will not bomb Lebanon anymore. The US bans it. Enough is enough!" he writes.

Netanyahu after Trump's ban: "We are not done"

Israel is not done with Hezbollah, warns Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu according to AFP.

The Iran-backed Shiite militia is today a shadow of its former self, says Netanyahu and continues:

- But our work is not done. We have plans to deal with the remaining rocket and drone threat, he says.

Dismantling Hezbollah will not be done overnight but will require patience, persistence and “skillful diplomatic maneuvers,” Netanyahu says, without going into details about the remaining plans.

The statement comes shortly after Donald Trump announced that the United States is banning Israel from continuing to bomb Lebanon.

“Enough is enough!” he writes on Truth Social.

Sources: Trump pressured Israel to agree to the ceasefire

US President Donald Trump pressured Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to agree to the ten-day ceasefire with Lebanon, two sources familiar with the matter told the Jerusalem Post.

The background is said to have been that Lebanese President Joseph Aoun refused to speak to Netanyahu on the phone until there had been “significant progress on the ground.”

– Without real negotiations, and definitely without a ceasefire, I will not have talks with Netanyahu, Aoun is said to have told Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Trump is said to have promised Aoun that “there will be a ceasefire”.

According to the BBC, the ceasefire has upset many Israelis, even within Netanyahu’s cabinet. It is seen as another example of how Netanyahu is bowing to Trump, even though it is done on terms that do not benefit Israel.

The criticism in Israel is mainly that the ceasefire does not include Iran-backed Hezbollah, which is the warring party against Israel. Hezbollah has signaled that they will follow the ceasefire.

Analysis: Lebanese are rejoicing but this is just a pause

The ten-day ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon is making Lebanese people rejoice and is a “huge development” for the entire region. But three serious questions remain, according to an analysis by Yalda Hakim in Sky News.

One: Will the ceasefire really hold? Israel still occupies parts of southern Lebanon. Two: What happens to the million people who have fled their homes? Three: Are there any political rapprochements?

Today, the countries lack diplomatic relations, writes the BBC's Middle East correspondent Yolande Knell. The hope is that the ceasefire can lead to a peace agreement. But Israel's refusal to leave Lebanon after the invasion and Lebanon-based Hezbollah's promise of counterattacks will "create complications".

"This may be a break, but not the end", writes BBC colleague Hugo Bachega in his analysis.

In PBS News Hour, journalist and expert Kim Ghattas says that Israel agreed to the ceasefire because Donald Trump asked for it. The president does not want the war to ruin the negotiations between the US and Iran. But the ceasefire is unlikely to lead to any breakthrough between Israel and Lebanon as long as "Benjamin Netanyahu can walk around" in southern Lebanon, she says.