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U.S. President Donald Trump announced Thursday that the ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon will be extended by three weeks, following an Oval Office meeting with high-ranking representatives from both countries, even as Hezbollah declared attacks on Israel in the hours before the announcement.
Trump posted the news on his Truth Social platform shortly after midnight, describing the meeting as "historic" and saying the United States would work with Lebanon "in order to help it protect itself from Hezbollah." The announcement came less than an hour after Hezbollah announced attacks on Israel, adding urgency to the diplomatic gathering.
The original ten-day ceasefire had been announced on April 16, pausing fighting between Israel and the Iran-backed militant group that had escalated into one of the most intense cross-border exchanges in years. Thursday's extension pushes the truce into mid-May and marks the first significant diplomatic milestone since the pause in hostilities took hold.
The Oval Office talks brought together Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Michel Issa, and special envoy Steve Witkoff, alongside the Israeli and Lebanese ambassadors to the United States. Trump said he looks forward to hosting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Lebanese President Joseph Aoun at the White House in the "near future."
Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Yechiel Leiter struck a measured but optimistic tone, saying Israel and Lebanon "have never been next to each other more than today," and thanking Trump and Vance for a day he called decades in the making. "We are going to keep going, working for peace," Leiter said. "Let's hope we will get it as soon as possible."
Lebanese Ambassador Nada Hamadeh Moawad also praised the president, thanking him for presiding over "this historic moment" and adding that with American support, "we can make Lebanon great again."
Trump used the occasion to reiterate Washington's demand that Iran sever its financial and logistical support for Hezbollah and other proxy groups across the Middle East, a condition he described as essential to any broader deal between Washington and Tehran.
Asked by a reporter whether Iran must cut off its aid to Hezbollah, Trump gave a blunt answer: "Yeah, they'll have to cut that. That's a must."
Hezbollah, which is designated a terrorist organization by the United States and the European Union, has long relied on Iranian funding, weapons, and political backing. Its role as a non-state armed actor embedded in Lebanese politics has complicated ceasefire negotiations and broader Lebanese sovereignty efforts for decades.
Huckabee, the U.S. envoy to Israel, offered a colorful characterization of the dynamic between Lebanon and Israel, framing Hezbollah as the primary obstacle to a lasting peace between two peoples he said genuinely want coexistence.
"The people of Lebanon, the people of Israel are neighbors and they want to get along," Huckabee said. "But it's like neighbors who have a rough little kid living in the neighborhood who keeps throwing rocks at everybody's window. And if the kid will quit throwing rocks, the neighbors can get along and start actually working together."
Trump is expected to follow up the Oval Office session with direct meetings with Netanyahu and Aoun, signaling that the administration views the current diplomatic opening as a foundation for longer-term negotiations rather than a temporary halt.
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