Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu has asserted that the two-week truce between US and Iran will not extend to Israel’s ongoing military operations in Lebanon.
Netanyahu said on X that he supports President Donald Trump’s decision to suspend strikes on Iran, and the “US effort to ensure that Iran no longer poses a nuclear, missile and terror threat to America, Israel, Iran’s Arab neighbours and the world.”
Netanyahu said, however, that the ceasefire does “not include Lebanon,” where Israeli forces have launched a ground invasion and are fighting with the Iran-aligned Hezbollah.
Lebanon was drawn into the US and Israel’s war on Iran on March 2, 2026, after Hezbollah launched attacks on Israel. Hezbollah said that the attacks were in retaliation for Israel’s killing of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on the first day of the war, on February 28, as well as Israel’s near-daily violations of a ceasefire it agreed to in Lebanon in November 2024.
That truce was agreed after more than a year of cross-border fire between Israeli forces and Hezbollah fighters following Israel’s launch of its genocidal war on Gaza in October 2023.
According to Lebanese authorities, Israeli attacks on Lebanon have killed more than 1,500 people since March 2 and displaced more than 1.2 million. The Israeli military has also launched an invasion of southern Lebanon and said that it aims to seize more territory for what it calls a buffer zone.
The Israeli military has said that it has ceased fire in the campaign against Iran in accordance with directives from the political echelon, after the United States announced a two-week ceasefire with Iran.The army added that in Lebanon, however, its forces are continuing “combat and ground operations” against Hezbollah.
Israel continued its strikes on southern Lebanon and issued a new evacuation order for one southern city, indicating it would strike there soon.
Lebanon’s National News Agency meanwhile said that the Israeli military was continuing to carry out attacks on southern parts of the country. It said that Israeli forces bombed the town of Srifa in southern Tyre as well as a car in Sadiqin this morning, wounding several people.
Macron Urges Lebanon’s Inclusion In US-Iran Ceasefire
French President Emmanuel Macron welcomed the ceasefire between the US and Iran and said, “It is a very good thing.”
Macron, however, warned that the situation in Lebanon is critical and said the ceasefire deal should include Lebanon. “What we have witnessed with Israel’s strikes and occupation of southern Lebanon isn’t the right response,” he said.
This came as Macron convened a meeting of top defence and security officials after a two-week ceasefire was agreed between the United States and Iran.
According to the Élysée, the defence council brought together Ministers and senior officials to discuss “the situation in Iran and the Middle East.” The meeting also addressed the return of two French nationals, Cécile Kohler and Jacques Paris, freed by Iran.
The Israeli Defence Minister said in late March that Israel would remain in southern Lebanon, a region it illegally occupied from 1982 to 2000, even after the current conflict ends.
Macron has repeatedly condemned attacks against Lebanon, one of France’s closest allies in the Middle East, and urged the Israeli government to start talks with its Lebanese counterparts.
Macron’s remarks came as part of a broader international response to the temporary ceasefire, which has drawn cautious optimism from world leaders and diplomatic officials.
European leaders have praised the deal as a step back from a potentially larger confrontation, even as they acknowledge that underlying tensions and unresolved disputes will require sustained engagement and negotiation.
Meanwhile, Lebanon’s Army called on citizens returning to villages and towns in the south of the country to avoid approaching areas infiltrated by Israel.
“In light of the regional developments and the circulation of reports about a ceasefire, the army command calls on citizens to refrain from returning to the southern villages and towns and to avoid approaching areas where Israeli forces have advanced, in order to preserve their safety, especially as they may expose their lives to the danger of ongoing Israeli attacks.”
Lebanese army
The Lebanese army also advised residents in the south to adhere to the directives of Lebanon’s deployed military units and to exercise utmost caution and vigilance with respect to any unexploded ordnance and suspicious objects found in the region.
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