Lebanese President: Sustainable ceasefire with Israel could start within 24 hours
Shafaq News- Beirut
Implementation of a new ceasefire agreement between Lebanon and Israel could begin within 24 hours of final approval, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun revealed on Thursday.
Speaking to reporters, Aoun said Lebanon is awaiting responses from all concerned parties and the necessary guarantees to ensure compliance, adding that the US mediator will determine the timing and mechanism for implementation.
He described the previous day's negotiations as "very difficult," as Lebanese delegation head Simon Karam temporarily suspended the talks before US Secretary of State Marco Rubio intervened to resume discussions.
Aoun also described the proposed agreement as different from the ceasefire reached on November 27, 2024, which was intended to halt hostilities between Israel and the Lebanese group but was followed by daily Israeli airstrikes and targeted killings of Hezbollah members and civilians until March 2, 2026, without military retaliation from Hezbollah during that period.
“The new arrangement would be sustainable,” he affirmed, noting that Lebanon had proposed an initial pilot zone encompassing Zawtar El-Gharbiyeh, Zawtar El-Charqiyeh, and the Beaufort Castle area in the south, where Hezbollah and Israeli forces continue to engage in near-daily clashes.
On Wednesday, Lebanon and Israel held a fourth round of direct talks in Washington since hostilities resumed on March 2, 2026. The proposed agreement conditions the ceasefire on a complete halt to Hezbollah fire and the withdrawal of the group's operatives from the area south of the Litani River. Under US supervision, both sides agreed to accelerate the establishment of pilot zones in which the Lebanese Armed Forces would exercise exclusive control, excluding all non-state armed groups. No timetable has been announced for an Israeli withdrawal from occupied Lebanese territory.
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said Tel Aviv retains the freedom to strike Beirut, with American backing, in response to any fire directed at Israeli settlements or territory, asserting that operations targeting Hezbollah infrastructure would continue regardless of the ceasefire.
Hezbollah political official Mahmoud Qomati had previously reiterated the group's rejection of any partial ceasefire arrangement that does not apply to all Lebanese territory. He also dismissed proposals linking a halt to strikes on Beirut's southern suburbs with an end to Hezbollah attacks on northern Israeli settlements while Israeli military operations continue in southern Lebanon.
