Israel and Hezbollah have agreed to a ceasefire starting on Friday, Reuters has claimed, citing an unnamed US official and “two Hezbollah officials.” However, no official confirmation has been made by either the Israel Defense Forces or the militant group as of yet.
According to the US official who spoke to Reuters, negotiators for the US and Qatar worked out the deal with help from Iran. “We understand that after the exchange of fire earlier today, Israel and Hezbollah are now in a ceasefire,” he added.
The American-Iranian memo of understanding signed earlier this week states that the war should be terminated on all fronts, including in Lebanon. However, Israel has continued its strikes on its neighbor, killing at least 18 people only Friday night, the country’s health ministry said earlier.
Earlier today, Lebanese Hezbollah lawmaker Hassan Fadlallah told Reuters that Iran had informed the group that talks with Washington could not continue without the implementation of a comprehensive ceasefire.
He also called on the Lebanese government to reject any direct negotiations with Israel while Israeli attacks on Lebanon continue.
Hezbollah not only functions as a militant group, it is also as a political party and social welfare provider; however, it is at odds with the Lebanese government. In March, Lebanon’s government took the unprecedented step of banning Hezbollah’s military and security activity.
The group is represented in both the government and parliament. The move came hours after it announced it had launched rockets and drones towards Israel to avenge the killing of Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei in US-Israeli attacks.
According to Asharq Al-Awsat sources, the Shiite political alliance is now divided over how to deal with Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam’s government, which took the decision. While one faction, described as hardline, favors changing the government, another believes current political conditions make such a move unrealistic because of parliamentary arithmetic: priority should instead be given to securing an Israeli withdrawal and rebuilding devastated towns.
19 June 2026
Israeli forces have targeted three towns in southern Lebanon with artillery fire, Lebanese state news agency NNA has reported.
Israel’s ambassador to the US, Yechiel Leiter, has confirmed the ceasefire in Lebanon, while also stressing that West Jerusalem aims to wipe out Hezbollah.
“Israel remains firmly committed to an immediate ceasefire,” he wrote on X. “At 11:30 this morning, Israel halted all offensive operations; Hezbollah and Iranian claims to the contrary are bold lies.”
Israeli forces have demolished multiple houses in the town of Kounin in southern Lebanon, Lebanese state news agency NNA has reported.
Norway plans to ban trade with Israeli settlements in Palestinian territories, Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide has said in a statement.
The proposed bill, which is expected to pass in Norway’s parliament, includes a ban on importing and exporting goods from Israeli settlements in Palestine.
The country recognized Palestinian statehood in 2024.
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun has stressed the need to stop Israel’s aggression against his country during a call with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
A comprehensive ceasefire would be “a fundamental pillar” for upcoming US-Israeli-Lebanon negotiations in Washington next week, Aoun said, according to the readout of the call published by the Lebanese presidency.
Bilateral negotiations between Israel and Lebanon are “the only feasible path to reconstruction, economic recovery, and ending recurrent cycles of violence,” US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a phone call with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun.
The top diplomat reiterated Washington’s support for the Lebanese government and stressed the need for it to disarm Hezbollah and regain full control of Lebanon, according to the US State Department readout of the call cited by the media.
“They also discussed the need to coordinate with regional allies to advance these aims,” the readout said.
An Israeli strike has killed two people in Nabatiyeh, southern Lebanon, Lebanese state news agency NNA has reported.
The pair was killed while riding a motorcycle, it said.
Thank you for staying with our coverage as we attempt to take a peek past the fog of war surrounding the developing – and volatile – situation in the Middle East.
The IDF soldier who shot 7-month-old baby Sam in the Palestinian West Bank earlier in June simply “ran away” without offering any medical assistance, the boy’s grieving father Fahed Haikal has told RT’s Charlotte Dubenskij.
While the IDF said that the serviceman “perceived” Haikal’s car accelerating towards him, footage recently released by Israeli NGO B’Tselem shows the car almost immediately stopped when prompted, she said.
The soldier’s shots went through the car’s windshield, piercing Haikal’s fingers, hitting his baby’s head and continuing through his wife’s cheek and chest.
“It’s crime. I can’t describe it, but it’s crime,” Haikal said.
Watch the full news report below:
Prior to the US-Iran ceasefire, American spy agencies warned the White House that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was likely to undermine the deal, the Washington Post has reported.
West Jerusalem is frustrated with the recently signed MOU and “appears intent on maintaining military operations” against Hezbollah, the newspaper wrote, citing recent US intelligence reports.
Netanyahu’s political survival is linked to demonstrating to the Israeli public that he will not withdraw troops from southern Lebanon, WaPo cited a US official as saying.
The IDF is “protecting” Israel by leveling entire sectors of villages in southern Lebanon, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz has said.
“Every village, the first line of Lebanese villages was destroyed, every house was destroyed,” he said in an interview with Israeli Channel 14, citing the presence of Hezbollah infrastructure in the area.
“We are demolishing all the houses and the residents will never see them again.”
Israel continues to attack Hezbollah in southern Lebanon due to the militant group’s overnight attacks on Israel, which killed at least four Israeli service members, IDF Spokesman Effie Defrin has said.
“Overnight, Hezbollah once again attacked IDF soldiers operating in southern Lebanon to protect Israeli civilians. We lost four of our soldiers,” he said in a press briefing.
The attacks “prove that Hezbollah’s goals remain the same,” he said. “This is not a reality we can accept. And this is exactly why the IDF continues to operate in southern Lebanon.”
Attempts to eliminate Hezbollah have failed, the group’s secretary-general, Sheikh Naim Qassem, has said, vowing that Israeli forces will be driven out of Lebanese territory.
The group’s victory would mean forcing “the enemy” out of Lebanon, he added.
Any ships wanting to traverse the Strait of Hormuz need to submit requests 48 hours in advance, the Persian Gulf Strait Authority, Iran’s body overseeing the key waterway, said in a statement shortly after the imposition of the Hezbollah-Israel ceasefire.
Hezbollah will honor the ceasefire, provided Israel does the same, the organization’s political wing spokesman and Lebanese MP Ibrahim Al-Moussawi has said.
“We will abide by the ceasefire if Israel does, and we have the right to respond,” he said in a comment cited by Lebanese state news agency NNA.
Israeli forces retain “full freedom of action” to act against Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, IDF Spokesman Effie Defrin has said.
Speaking at a press briefing shortly after the reported ceasefire, he declined to confirm the agreement.
Troops “have full operational freedom of action, to remove threats in any area,” he said. “There is no limit [to] removing threats.”
Forty-seven people have been killed and 97 wounded across southern Lebanon and the Bekaa Valley, according to Lebanese Ministry of Public Health.
The worst attack was reported in Harouf, where nine people, including three women, were killed and 14 wounded.
The ministry added that 3,980 people have been killed and 12,001 wounded in Israeli attacks on Lebanon since March 2.
Iranian Foreign Minister Araghchi has said that any violation of commitments will be attributed to the United States.
Speaking to Pakistani Foreign Minister Mohammad Ishaq Dar over the phone, Araghchi has expressed gratitude for Pakistan’s efforts, initiatives, and commendable endeavors in the diplomatic negotiation process and reaching a memorandum of understanding.
Earlier today, Iran’s official broadcaster IRIB posted a video of Israel’s latest strikes on Lebanon, which happened despite the ceasefire.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei has denied reports that Tehran has invited the International Atomic Energy Agency to inspect its nuclear facilities.
He said that, as noted in the memorandum signed with the US, Iran will maintain the current status quo of its nuclear program pending a final deal. Inspections of facilities that have been carried out until now, such as at Bushehr, will continue, he added.
The IDF has claimed there was “a hostile aircraft infiltration in the area of Zar’it (northern Israel),” and that “a report was received regarding the identification of two suspicious aerial targets.”
The incident concluded with no unusual findings and no injuries were reported, according to the statement.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei has dismissed media reports regarding the closure of the Strait of Hormuz as “completely unfounded.”
He said that Iran’s armed forces, acting in accordance with the memorandum of understanding signed with the US on June 18, have implemented all necessary measures to ensure the safe transit of commercial vessels through the strait.
Maritime shipping is currently proceeding normally along the waterway, Baghaei added.
A Hezbollah official has told Al Jazeera: “The Israeli enemy continues to violate the ceasefire agreement, just as it did in previous agreements.”
Israel’s PM Benjamin Netanyahu has said that the IDF has heavily attacked 150 Hezbollah targets in Lebanon and killed “dozens of saboteurs.”