Israel, Lebanon agree to ceasefire

The US State Department in a statement said that Israel and Lebanon agreed to a ceasefire.

The agreement is “contingent on a complete cessation” of fire from the Iran-backed armed group Hezbollah, among other conditions.

It comes after Israeli strikes killed at least nine people in southern Lebanon on Wednesday and Hezbollah fired rockets into northern Israel.

“All countries reaffirmed that the future of the relationship between Israel and Lebanon must be decided by the two sovereign governments. They rejected any attempt, by any state or non-state actor, to hold Lebanon’s future hostage,” the statement said.

The agreement is also contingent on the “evacuation of all [Hezbollah] operatives” from the security buffer zone between Lebanon and its neighbour known as the South Litani Sector.

It follows a partial ceasefire agreed on Monday, which Lebanon said would see Israel refrain from bombing Beirut, in exchange for Hezbollah not attacking Israel.

The two countries will meet again on June 22 to hold further talks “with a view toward reaching a comprehensive agreement”. Hezbollah has not yet commented publicly on the announcement.

The agreement comes after Israeli and Lebanese diplomats held a second day of talks in Washington on Wednesday to discuss ways to shore up the deal.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters that he hoped they would produce “an action plan on a track for security in [Lebanon], independent from Hezbollah”.

The partial ceasefire was tested by both Israeli and Hezbollah fire this week, reports BBC.