US President Donald Trump said Monday that Hezbollah agreed through intermediaries to stop attacks on Israel, while Israeli troops heading toward southern Lebanon had been turned back.
Trump said he also spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. In a Truth Social post, he said there would be “no troops going to Beirut.”
The United States designates Hezbollah as a terrorist organisation. No US president has previously spoken with the Iran-aligned Lebanese group, with or without intermediaries.
Trump said “highly placed representatives” carried messages to Hezbollah. He said the group agreed that “all shooting will stop.”
A Lebanese official told Reuters that Hezbollah conveyed its position through Lebanon’s parliament speaker, Nabih Berri. The official said Hezbollah was willing to halt attacks on northern Israel if Israel avoided strikes on Beirut and its suburbs.
The fighting in Lebanon has been the broadest spillover of the Iran war. More than 1.2 million Lebanese have been displaced since March 2 by Israeli strikes and evacuation orders.
The latest escalation followed Israel’s seizure of Beaufort Castle and a strategic ridge in southern Lebanon on Saturday, the Israeli military said.
Trump also said talks with Iran were continuing despite a Tasnim report that Tehran had suspended indirect negotiations with Washington.
Read: Iran-US Talks Halted Over Israeli Strikes In Lebanon
“Talks are continuing, at a rapid pace, with the Islamic Republic of Iran,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
Trump told NBC News that Iran had not informed Washington of any suspension. He said a pause in communication would be acceptable and added that the US blockade of Iranian ports would remain in place.
