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2026-04-25 Syria-Lebanon-Iran
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Trump declares 3-week truce extension after hosting 2nd round of Israel-Lebanon talks
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[IsraelTimes] US president says Netanyahu and Aoun will likely meet at White House in coming weeks; did not know about Lebanese law outlawing contact with Israelis but insists it will be scrapped
US President Donald Trump
...His ancestors didn't own any slaves...
announced a three-week extension of a ceasefire between Israel and Leb
 ...The Leb civil war, between 1975 and 1990, lasted a little over 145 years and produced 120,000 fatalities. The average length of a ceasefire was measured in seconds. Only one of those statements is an exaggeration....
shortly after presiding over the second round of ambassador-level talks between the two countries at the White House.
In a Truth Social post published immediately after the meeting ended, Trump said he also planned to host Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Lebanese President Joseph Aoun at the White House "in the near future."
"The United States is going to work with Lebanon in order to help it protect itself from Hezbollah," Trump wrote, adding that the White House meeting went "very well."
Shortly after publishing the post, Trump invited news hounds into the Oval Office, where participants in the talks offered brief remarks thanking the president for organizing them.
Trump then took questions from news hounds, claiming that any deal the US signs with Iran
...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for spontaneously taking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet militias to extend the regime's influence. The word Iran is a cognate form of Aryan. The abbreviation IRGC is the same idea as Stürmabteilung (or SA). The term Supreme Guide is a the modern version form of either Duce or Führer or maybe both. They hate Jews Zionists Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol...
must include a provision barring Tehran from continuing to fund Hezbollah. He also clarified that the ceasefire does not bar Israel from launching strikes in self-defense and called for Lebanese legislation outlawing contact with Israelis to be scrapped, though he acknowledged having never heard of the law before.
Earlier this month, Trump coaxed Israel into agreeing to an initial 10-day ceasefire against Hezbollah, which was set to expire at midnight Monday-Tuesday. Hezbollah dragged Lebanon into the US-Israeli war against Iran after it began targeting the Jewish state on March 2.
After the US and Iran agreed to a ceasefire on April 7, Tehran insisted that it cover Lebanon as well and continued blocking ships in the Strait of Hormuz as Israel kept up strikes against Hezbollah.
Apparently concerned that the continued tensions in Lebanon would harm the truce between the US and Iran, Washington began pressuring Israel to curb its strikes on Hezbollah.
But to avoid legitimizing Iran’s influence over developments in Lebanon, the US sought to secure the truce through a separate channel — direct talks between Jerusalem and Beirut, which had not happened in decades.
Given the anti-Hezbollah stance of the current government in Beirut, the Trump administration saw a unique opportunity for a peace deal.
However,
denial ain't just a river in Egypt...
the Iran-backed terror group still holds significant sway in Lebanon, where roughly one-third of the population is Shiite. Previous attempts by the government to disarm Hezbollah have proven wildly unsuccessful, as it continued to fire repeatedly at northern Israel.
Accordingly, it is not clear whether an agreement between Israel and Lebanon in Washington will have practical ramifications on the ground.
Moreover, Beirut’s priorities in the talks with Israel appear to be maintaining the ceasefire and pushing back the IDF, which has established a three-to-six-mile deep buffer zone in southern Lebanon.
For Israel, the main priority in the talks is to secure the disarmament of Hezbollah. Jerusalem has pledged to resume fighting if diplomacy fails.
Trump, meanwhile, is looking to add another peace deal to his resume, but also indicated that such a deal would help with Washington’s efforts to reach a permanent ceasefire with Iran.
"It’ll be a wonderful thing to get this worked out simultaneously with what we’re doing in Iran," Trump told news hounds in the Oval Office after the meeting.
Asked when the sit-down between Netanyahu and Aoun would be held, Trump expressed the hope that it would take place sometime during the three-week truce extension. Last week, however, he said the Israeli and Lebanese leaders would speak by phone the following day, though no such call ended up occurring.
Aoun has held off on engaging with Netanyahu as he faces significant domestic pressure back home, including threats from Hezbollah, and it’s unclear whether he would be willing to meet Netanyahu while Israeli forces continue to occupy a buffer zone in southern Lebanon.
’ELIMINATING THE HEZBOLLAH MENACE’
In his opening remarks during the meeting, Israeli Ambassador to the US Yechiel Leiter cautioned against focusing on Israel’s military presence in Lebanon.
"To put the emphasis repeatedly in our talks on Israeli withdrawal, is to fall into the trap once again of putting the emphasis in the wrong place," Leiter said in remarks later published by the Israeli embassy. "If we continue down that path, we are doomed to failure. And failure, friends, is not an option."
"If, on the other hand, we put the focus on the root problem, Hezbollah, and its murderous intentions with regard to Israel, I have no doubt that we will succeed in eliminating the Hezbollah menace and achieving peace between our two countries," he said.
Leiter stressed that the IDF buffer zone is in place to defend Israeli northern towns from Hezbollah fire.
"As long as the threat to Israeli citizens persists, our forward positions must remain," he continued. "Lebanon has not met its obligations to dismantle terror infrastructures, as demonstrated in the repeated attacks against Israel launched from the south Lebanon area in recent weeks — indeed, during the ceasefire itself."
The Israeli envoy said Israel is prepared to extend the ceasefire, while warning that it would only work if Jerusalem maintains the right to take out threats whenever they’re identified.
During the public portion of the meeting, Leiter insisted that Jerusalem has no beef with the Lebanese government.
"Israel wants peace with Lebanon and Israel wants security for its citizens," he said. "We’re united with the Lebanese government in wanting to rid the country of this malign influence called Hezbollah."
Thanks to the US and Israeli strikes on Iran, Leiter maintained that "the possibility of degrading Hezbollah and liberating Lebanon from their occupation is real... We hope that together, we can formalize peace between Israel and Lebanon in the very near future."
Lebanese Ambassador to the US Nada Hamadeh also thanked Trump, but refrained from offering similar comments about the potential for peace with Israel.
"Thank you for... presiding over this historic moment," Hamadeh said.
"With your support, we can make Lebanon great again," she adds, causing Trump to smile.
Trump also asked US Vice President JD Vance, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio
...The diminutive 13-year-old Republican U.S. Senator from Florida, Secretary of State in the second Trump administration...
, US Ambassador to Lebanon Michel Issa, and US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee to address the press, and each was careful to use the opportunity to praise the president.
Rubio said the ceasefire extension gives time for Israel and Lebanon to work toward a "permanent peace."
Huckabee compared Hezbollah to a "rough little kid living in the neighborhood who keeps throwing rocks at everybody’s window."
"If the kid will quit throwing rocks, the neighbors can get along and start actually working together," Huckabee said, maintaining that the effort initiated by the US will "get that little kid out of the neighborhood."
As he began taking questions from news hounds, Trump was asked whether Iran must stop funding Hezbollah to reach a deal with the US.
"Yes, that is a must," Trump responded.
Recent talks with Iran have largely focused on the nuclear issue, though, as Tehran has pushed back on demands that deals include an end to its support for proxies in the region.
Asked whether he thinks Israel and Lebanon can reach a peace deal this year, Trump responded, "There’s a great chance."
Trump was then asked about continued Israeli strikes against Hezbollah and indicated that he would allow them under certain circumstances.
"Israel is going to have to defend itself if they are shot at... but they’re going to do it carefully, and they’ll be surgical," Trump told news hounds.
The remarks indicated a softened approach from Trump after he declared last week that Israel was "PROHIBITED" from bombing Lebanon.
The Truth Social warning was said to have sparked alarm in Washington, leading a White House official to clarify to news hounds that the ceasefire still allows Israel to take action against perceived threats.
Trump was also asked about a Lebanese law outlawing contact with Israelis, which the US State Department has reportedly been leaning on Beirut in recent days to annul.
"I never heard of that, but... I’m pretty sure that’ll be ended very quickly," Trump said before turning around to seek affirmation from Rubio.
"Yup," the secretary responded.
"I know Lebanon doesn’t want that... That’s crazy," Trump added.
The Lebanese ambassador standing behind him was not given an opportunity to respond.
Hezbollah fires rocket salvo at northern Israel shortly before ceasefire extended
[IsraelTimes] Rocket attack by Iran-backed terror group, the first since start of truce, comes as Israeli and Lebanese envoys meet at White House; IDF reservist in south Lebanon lightly hurt by explosive-laden drone
Hezbollah fired a salvo of rockets at northern Israel late Thursday night, in the first such breach of the shaky ceasefire, shortly before US President Donald Trump announced the truce would be extended as envoys from Beirut and Jerusalem met in Washington.
The salvo came hours after the Israel Defense Forces launched strikes that it said killed several Hezbollah operatives in southern Lebanon, where local media reported three people were killed in another Israeli airstrike.
Hezbollah launched four rockets from Lebanon at the northern border community of Shtula around 11:30 p.m. According to the IDF, all of the rockets that crossed the border were intercepted. There were no reports of injuries.
In a statement, Hezbollah took responsibility for the attack, saying it was a response to an Israeli violation of the ceasefire when it allegedly carried out artillery shelling in the southern Lebanon town of Yater earlier in the day that reportedly injured two people, including a child.
The IDF later said it struck the launcher “within several minutes” of Hezbollah using it to target Shtula, along with another launcher “that was loaded and ready to be launched” at Israeli troops.
Hezbollah also took responsibility for several other attacks on Israeli forces stationed in southern Lebanon throughout Thursday, despite the ceasefire.
The incident marked the first Hezbollah rocket attack on Israeli territory since the ceasefire took effect last week for an initial 10-day period, which Trump said would be extended by three weeks as he hosted the Israeli and Lebanese ambassadors to the United States for high-level negotiations.
Israel and Hezbollah have continued exchanging smaller-scale blows, accusing each other of violating the Lebanon ceasefire.
On Thursday evening, Lebanon’s health ministry said three people were killed in an Israeli strike in the southern Lebanon town of Shoukin, close to Nabatieh. According to the IDF, the three were Hezbollah operatives who earlier fired an anti-aircraft missile at an Israeli drone over southern Lebanon, in an unsuccessful attempt to down the unmanned aircraft.
Earlier in the day, the IDF said Commando Brigade troops stationed in the southern Lebanese area of Bint Jbeil killed two armed Hezbollah operatives who approached them in the village of Aynata.
The troops identified “two armed terrorists who approached the forces in a manner that posed an immediate threat,” and “eliminated the terrorists to remove the threat,” the IDF said.
It later said that Hezbollah fired several rockets at troops operating in the Aynata area, which struck next to the soldiers but did not result in injuries.
In another incident, the IDF said it fired an interceptor missile on Thursday at a “suspicious aerial target” identified over an area of southern Lebanon where troops are stationed.
The target did not cross into Israeli territory, and no sirens were triggered in Israel, the IDF said, identifying the target as a suspected Hezbollah drone and saying it was successfully intercepted.
Hezbollah said in separate statements that it twice targeted Israeli soldiers in the southern Lebanese village of Taybeh, and downed a drone over Majdal Zoun on Thursday. In Taybeh, Hezbollah said it used a drone as well as “appropriate weapons,” by which the terror group usually means anti-tank missiles.
The IDF said the explosive-laden Hezbollah drone lightly wounded a reservist soldier, with forces striking Hezbollah sites in the area in response.
Hezbollah also claimed to have fired rockets at Israeli troops stationed in the Bint Jbeil area, and targeted an IDF bulldozer that was demolishing homes in the southern Lebanese town of Rachaf on Thursday evening. The IDF later said Hezbollah fired an anti-tank guided missile at Israeli troops, striking near them but resulting in no injuries.
Defense Minister Israel Katz has said that the IDF would raze all of the Lebanese border villages — with the exception of several Christian communities — though military commanders have insisted that the army is only destroying Hezbollah infrastructure, which they say is often embedded within civilian homes.
IDF says it killed Hezbollah rocket operator, found underground command center
Separately, the IDF said Thursday that it had killed a Hezbollah operative on Wednesday while he was operating a rocket launch site in southern Lebanon.
The operative was targeted in an airstrike on the launch site in Sejoud to “prevent a direct threat to the communities of northern Israel,” the IDF said.
In addition, the military said Thursday that it uncovered an underground Hezbollah command center located 25 meters beneath a clothing store in the southern Lebanese town of Khiam.
Inside the tunnel, troops found weapons and several rooms that were used by Hezbollah “for managing the fighting,” the IDF said.
Israel’s strikes since March 2 have killed over 2,000 people in Lebanon and displaced about a million, according to Lebanese authorities, while the IDF says it has killed some 1,700 Hezbollah operatives, including hundreds of members of the terror group’s elite Radwan Force.
Hezbollah fired hundreds of rockets a day in the fighting that began on March 2, according to the IDF. The rockets killed two Israeli civilians, and another was mistakenly killed in the north by Israeli artillery shelling.
Fifteen IDF soldiers have been killed in southern Lebanon, including two during the ceasefire with Hezbollah.
FRANCE TOUTS ITS PART IN TALKS DESPITE ITS ABSENCE FROM THEM
French President Emmanuel Macron said Thursday that he was willing to host a conference on rebuilding southern Lebanon and supporting Lebanon’s army, which, under the 2024 agreement, is required to disarm Hezbollah. Macron said after talks with Cypriot counterpart Nikos Christodoulides on Thursday that the conference would take place when Lebanon deems it appropriate. The conference would also aim to release additional European funding. Macron said he and Christodoulides support the idea of a European Union partnership agreement with Lebanon.
| Meh. Israel has already stated France is not wanted. President Macron is welcome to sit by the phone, however, waiting for a call that never comes. |
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Posted by trailing wife 2026-04-25 2026-04-25 03:06||
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