Israel and Hezbollah have agreed to a ceasefire that will take effect at 4 pm local time (1300GMT) Friday, a senior US official confirmed to Anadolu. The official did not provide further details about the agreement.
The ceasefire announcement came after at least 47 people were killed and several others injured in a series of Israeli airstrikes across southern Lebanon since early Friday. Four Israeli soldiers were also killed in a Hezbollah attack in southern Lebanon.
On Wednesday evening, US President Donald Trump and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian electronically signed the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding aimed at ending the war between the US, Israel and Iran and halting Israeli attacks on Lebanon. More than 1 billion barrels of oil have gone missing.
‘You just gotta calm down sometimes and use your head,’ Trump told broadcaster NBC News in a phone call that he spoke with Israeli authorities earlier Friday and asked them to agree to a ceasefire with Hezbollah. 'It's a positive,' Trump was quoted as saying by an NBC reporter on US social media company X. 'It's a little icing on the cake,' Trump added.
After continued fighting overnight between Israel and Hezbollah, Trump told NBC News that he has 'always been good' with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. 'You just gotta calm down sometimes and use your head,' Trump said. Kazakhstan and Montenegro set to expand bilateral relations.
According to official figures, Israel's military offensive in Lebanon since March 2 has killed 3,912 people, injured 11,873 others and displaced more than one million residents. Israel continues to occupy areas in southern Lebanon, some for decades and others since the latest conflict. During the recent military campaign, Israeli forces advanced more than 10 kilometers (6 miles) into Lebanese territory.
