Israel and Lebanon agreed on implementing a ceasefire conditional on Hezbollah stopping its attacks and withdrawing from the area south of the Litani River.
The development was announced jointly by Israel, Lebanon and the U.S., and comes after two days of negotiations. It also involves the creation of "pilot zones" in the southern part of the country in which Lebanese Armed Forces will take exclusive control and ensure the militia, long considered an Iran proxy, is not there.
"These steps will enable progress towards a comprehensive peace and security agreement," the statement noted. "All countries reaffirmed that the future of the relationship between Israel and Lebanon must be decided by the two sovereign governments," it added.
Elsewhere, the countries reaffirmed in the document "that they have no hostile intent toward one another and committed to continuing direct negotiations to build confidence, resolve all outstanding issues, and work toward a comprehensive agreement between the two countries." They will hold another round of negotiations aimed at reaching a comprehensive agreement later this month.
Hostilities in Lebanon are also a key demand by Iran to end the war with the U.S. President Donald Trump this week forced Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin to halt an escalation in the country, particularly in a Beirut suburb considered to be a Hezbollah stronghold.
Trump confirmed on Wednesday that he called Netanyahu "crazy" over the matter. He was asked about the situation in the New York Post's "Pod Force One" podcast. Concretely, whether he had called Netanyahu "effing crazy" and accused him of being ungrateful to him considering his reiterated support, as Axios reported earlier this week.
"I did," Trump confirmed. "I wouldn't say angry. I was a little bit perturbed at his constantly fighting with Lebanon, you know."
The report in question noted that the call took place after Iran threatened to walk out of negotiations as a results of the increased attacks, including the anticipated strikes in Dahieh, the Beirut suburb.
A U.S. official said Trump's message could be summarized as such: "You're f--king crazy. You'd be in prison if it weren't for me. I'm saving your ass. Everybody hates you now. Everybody hates Israel because of this."
Another one described the U.S. president as "pissed" and at one point yelled "what the f--k are you doing?" at Netanyahu.
Shortly after the call Trump said he had a "very productive" call with Netanyahu and "and there will be no Troops going to Beirut, and any Troops that are on their way, have already been turned back."
