President Trump said late Monday that Israel and Hezbollah had agreed through mediators to stop shooting at each other, an announcement that pulled Israeli troops back from Beirut and pushed Treasury yields lower on Tuesday but did not stop the fighting in southern Lebanon. Israeli airstrikes killed at least six people in southern Lebanon overnight near Nabatiyeh, Lebanon's state-run National News Agency said, and Hezbollah fired rockets toward northern Israel.
The partial step back, brokered hours after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered strikes on Beirut's southern suburbs, marks the first time Washington has publicly extracted a halt commitment from Hezbollah, designated a terrorist organization by the United States. It also reopens the broader U.S.-Iran ceasefire extension Tehran had threatened to abandon Monday.
What Trump said
In a Truth Social post after a call with Netanyahu, Trump said there would be no Israeli troops "going to Beirut, and any Troops that are on their way, have already been turned back." He said Hezbollah had "agreed that all shooting will stop — That Israel will not attack them, and they will not attack Israel." The Lebanese Embassy in Washington said Hezbollah had accepted the terms of a U.S. proposal for mutual cessation, NBC News reported.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke with Netanyahu and Lebanese President Joseph Aoun on Sunday night to propose "a fresh path" to continue negotiations, a U.S. official told the Associated Press. The administration does not expect Israel to give up retaliating for Hezbollah strikes, the official said.
On the ground
Moments after Trump's post, the Israeli military detected missile launches from Lebanon and ordered residents of parts of northern Israel to take cover. The overnight strikes near Nabatiyeh killed six, including a Syrian citizen, according to PBS NewsHour. The Lebanese Civil Defense separately said six people were killed in a strike on the village of Marwaniyeh, though NBC News reported it was not clear when that strike was launched. An airstrike on Tyre damaged the Jabal Amel Hospital, the Lebanese Health Ministry said.
The latest round of fighting has killed 3,433 people in Lebanon and displaced more than 1 million, the AP reported. At least 26 Israeli soldiers and two civilians have been killed on the Israeli side, Netanyahu's office said.
On the Street
Treasury yields fell Tuesday as traders bet the de-escalation would also pull the U.S.-Iran negotiation back from collapse. The 10-year yield fell more than 4 basis points to 4.432 percent, the 2-year more than 3 basis points to 4.018 percent and the 30-year 4 basis points to 4.951 percent. Yields had risen Monday after Iran's Tasnim news agency reported negotiators were halting talks with Washington.
The counterpoint
Hezbollah has not publicly confirmed Trump's account, and the April 17 ceasefire has already collapsed once. Lebanese parliament speaker Nabih Berri, a key Hezbollah ally, said Sunday he can guarantee the group's commitment to a ceasefire, then asked: "But who will force Israel to stop its aggression?" Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said any U.S.-Iran agreement is a "ceasefire on all fronts, including Lebanon."
Lebanese and Israeli negotiators are scheduled to resume direct talks in Washington on Tuesday, the first formal contacts in more than three decades between the two countries.