A 10-day ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon took effect at midnight local time Friday, halting six weeks of cross-border fighting that has killed more than 2,100 people in Lebanon and displaced over 1.2 million, after President Donald Trump announced the truce on Truth Social following separate calls with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Lebanese President Joseph Aoun.

The pause, brokered by Washington and described by the U.S. State Department as a "gesture of goodwill" by Israel, opens a narrow window for negotiations toward a permanent security and peace agreement. Trump has invited Netanyahu and Aoun to the White House for what would be the first direct Israeli-Lebanese leaders' meeting in decades. The deal can be extended by mutual agreement if talks advance.

Terms of the truce

Under the agreement, Israel will suspend offensive military operations but, according to the State Department, preserves the right to "take all necessary measures in self-defence" against planned, imminent or ongoing attacks. Netanyahu said Israeli troops will remain stationed up to 10 kilometers inside southern Lebanon, in what he has called a security zone, and signaled no intention of withdrawing. Defense Minister Israel Katz had previously said the occupied area would extend to the Litani River, roughly 30 kilometers from the border.

Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam welcomed the truce as "a central Lebanese demand we have pursued since the first day of the war," according to a post on X cited by Al Jazeera. Iran's foreign ministry also endorsed the deal, with spokesperson Esmail Baghaei expressing "solidarity" with Lebanon, the BBC reported.

Hezbollah's conditional stance

Hezbollah, the Iran-backed group that has fought Israel for six weeks, was not party to the Washington talks held earlier this week and has not confirmed it will abide by the truce. In a statement to PBS NewsHour, the group said any ceasefire "must be comprehensive across all Lebanese territory and must not allow the Israeli enemy any freedom of movement," and asserted Lebanon's right to resist Israeli presence.

Ali Fayyad, a Hezbollah politician, told Al Jazeera Arabic the group would approach the ceasefire with "caution and vigilance" and warned that Israeli strikes on Lebanese sites would constitute a breach. Trump, in a Truth Social post, said he hoped "Hezbollah acts nicely and well during this important period of time."

Early violations reported

By Friday morning, Lebanon's army reported multiple Israeli ceasefire violations, including intermittent shelling of villages. The news outlet Lebanon 24 reported that Israeli forces fired on an ambulance team in Kunin, in the Nabatieh Governorate, with casualties reported. Israeli military spokesperson Avichay Adraee told residents of southern Lebanon to stay north of the Litani River "until further notice," citing what he described as "ongoing terrorist activities" by Hezbollah.

Since Israel re-entered southern Lebanon on March 2 in response to Hezbollah strikes, Lebanon's health ministry has recorded more than 2,100 killed, including at least 260 women and 172 children, and 7,000 wounded. BBC Verify found more than 1,400 buildings destroyed in the south. Israeli authorities report 13 soldiers killed in combat and two civilians killed by Hezbollah fire over the same period.

Opposition on both sides

Former Israeli diplomat Alon Pinkas told Al Jazeera that Netanyahu "was coerced into this by President Trump" and said he could not foresee a peace agreement with Hezbollah still armed. Opposition leader Yair Lapid, in a post on X cited by Al Jazeera, said the Netanyahu government's promises were crashing against reality and pledged to permanently remove the threat to northern settlements under a future government. Leaders of northern Israeli regional councils also objected; Moshe Davidovich of the Mateh Asher Regional Council called the security-zone arrangement "not a diplomatic achievement." Inside Israel's security cabinet, ministers were convened with five minutes' notice and given no vote on the deal, according to Israeli press reports cited by the BBC.

What comes next

Trump said Netanyahu and Aoun could meet in Washington within the next week or two. The 10-day clock runs until April 27, at which point the parties must decide whether to extend or allow fighting to resume. Trump also said peace talks with Iran may restart this weekend in Islamabad.