A 10-day ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon took effect late Thursday, briefly halting direct hostilities while tensions, local violence and warnings from political leaders made clear the pause could be short-lived. The truce, announced by U.S. President Donald Trump, drew cautious support from U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres, who called on all sides to honor the agreement and obey international humanitarian law. French President Emmanuel Macron welcomed the move but cautioned that continuing military activity risked undermining the deal.
Reports of violations and unrest surfaced almost immediately. Lebanon’s army accused Israel of “acts of aggression,” saying southern villages had been intermittently shelled, and it urged residents not to return to frontline areas. AFP journalists recorded gunfire and RPG blasts in Beirut’s southern suburbs around the time the ceasefire began. Israel’s military said its forces would remain deployed in southern Lebanon and warned civilians not to move south of the Litani River; Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said troops would not withdraw and described an Israeli “security zone” extending roughly 10 kilometers into Lebanon.
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz called the pause a “temporary freeze,” stressing that Israel’s ground and air operations in Lebanon had yielded gains but were “still not complete.” Katz warned that military action could resume if diplomacy did not advance Israel’s objective of disarming Hezbollah, and said the Lebanese government — with U.S. backing — faced diplomatic pressure. He also cautioned that civilians who returned south during the truce could be evacuated again if fighting resumed.
Hours before the ceasefire took hold, Israeli air strikes hit the southern city of Tyre, killing at least 13 people and wounding dozens while destroying several residential buildings; Lebanese officials said some people remained missing under rubble. The strikes underscored the fragility of the pause and the heavy humanitarian toll of the wider confrontation.
Despite warnings and visible damage, some displaced Lebanese began returning to towns and villages in the south and to parts of Beirut as the truce was observed. More than 1.1 million people — roughly a fifth of Lebanon’s population — had fled fighting in the south and bombardment of Beirut’s suburbs; returnees encountered flattened apartment blocks and shattered infrastructure in many areas.
International diplomatic activity accelerated as leaders sought to use the pause to broaden talks and stabilize the region. Delegations from Turkey, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan planned meetings on the sidelines of the Antalya Diplomacy Forum to press for an end to the wider conflict involving the U.S., Israel and Iran, with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan urging that the ceasefire be used to extend negotiations. Washington signaled that a second round of U.S.-Iran talks was likely following earlier meetings in Islamabad.
European responses included plans for a Paris conference, hosted by France and the U.K., aimed at securing shipping through the Strait of Hormuz — a vital route for global energy shipments that had been disrupted amid the broader conflict. Germany and Italy were expected to participate; Berlin indicated it might contribute naval minehunters and surveillance assets to an international maritime mission.
The broader economic fallout was already being felt. The German Aviation Association and the International Energy Agency warned of potential jet fuel shortages and disruptions to summer travel as damage across the Middle East affected energy supplies and logistics networks.
Other regional repercussions noted during the pause included Australia granting humanitarian protection to members of Iran’s women’s national soccer team, who sought asylum after protests related to singing the national anthem. Australian officials also said the United States had made no new requests for assistance in Iran.
President Trump described the broader confrontation with Iran as a “little diversion” and said he hoped it would end soon; he also took to social media expressing the wish that Hezbollah would “act nicely” during the ceasefire. For now, the international community urged that the truce be honored and diplomatic channels pursued, even as continued military deployments, local clashes and recent deadly strikes highlighted how precarious the pause remains and how quickly it could unravel.