BEIRUT (AP) 鈥� Israel and Lebanon have agreed to renew their shaky ceasefire, with an aim to continue talks later this month for a comprehensive peace deal.
The U.S.-brokered agreement, announced in a joint statement by the U.S., Israel and Lebanon Wednesday, comes after Israeli forces made their into Lebanon in more than a quarter century.
But it includes several contentious points, including the creation of 鈥減ilot鈥� security zones inside Lebanon from which that Israel has been fighting would be banned, and a stipulation about the group鈥檚 eventual disbanding.
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said Thursday the deal is the 鈥渓ast chance to enter a final and comprehensive ceasefire.鈥� A November 2024 U.S.-brokered deal to end fighting between Hezbollah and Israel sparked by the war in Gaza failed to hold.
It comes days after a major escalation in the Lebanon conflict was narrowly averted, with a separate agreement reached Monday for Israel to refrain from its threatened strikes on Beirut鈥檚 southern suburbs and Hezbollah to halt attacks on northern Israel. But its details raise questions over whether it will hold.
Here are some key things to know about the Israel-Lebanon ceasefire deal.
Hezbollah鈥檚 actions are key to the deal鈥檚 success
The current deal builds on a ceasefire initially reached on April 17 between Israel and the Lebanese government.
But crucially, even though much of it hinges on what Hezbollah will do, the militant group was not officially involved in the talks. Hezbollah’s leader, Sheikh Naim Kassem, has instead relied on leverage in its talks with Washington. Tehran has insisted any deal to end the Iran war must include Lebanon.
Kassem slammed the agreement Thursday, calling it 鈥淪atan鈥檚 dream in heaven.鈥� He insisted on a complete ceasefire and Israeli troop withdrawal, saying the deal would destabilize Lebanon and create divisions among its people.
鈥淭he agreement allows Israel to take in politics what it couldn鈥檛 in war,鈥� Kassem said. 鈥淎s long as the occupation is still present, then the resistance will continue.鈥�
Israel says it is at war with Hezbollah, which it has long considered to be a major threat, not with Lebanon itself. However, Israel has struck areas far from Hezbollah’s influence, including in the heart of the Lebanese capital.
The Shiite Muslim armed group emerged in 1982 in response to Israel’s then-occupation of southern Lebanon, and has grown to become one of the country’s most influential forces.
Underlining its view of the group as an existential threat, Israel said in Wednesday’s joint statement that its own security and respect for its territorial integrity 鈥渃an only be achieved through鈥痶he disarmament of鈥疕ezbollah and the dismantlement of its infrastructure throughout Lebanon.鈥�
Lebanon signing a statement describing Hezbollah as a threat underscores the growing divide in the country over the group, and Beirut’s efforts to distance itself from Iran and improve ties with Gulf countries and Washington. It also risks alienating Hezbollah and its supporters, largely members of the Shiite community.
Ceasefire stipulates the creation of 鈥榩ilot zones鈥� controlled by the Lebanese army
The joint statement says the ceasefire 鈥渋s contingent on a complete cessation of Hezbollah fire and the evacuation of all Hezbollah operatives鈥� from south of the Litani River. The river, located about 30 kilometers (20 miles) north of the border with Israel, forms the boundary of a 2006 U.N.-established buffer zone in which Hezbollah is banned. Israeli troops have currently pushed far past the Litani River into southern Lebanon, sending hundreds of thousands of Lebanese fleeing.
According to the statement, Lebanon and Israel agreed to 鈥渟wiftly advance the creation of pilot zones in which the Lebanese Armed Forces will take exclusive control of the territory to the exclusion of all non-state actors.鈥�
That piles pressure on Lebanon’s cash-strapped military to exert its presence in areas where Hezbollah is prominent. Lebanon fears a confrontational approach to disarming Hezbollah could risk conflict across the country, whereas Israel accuses Beirut of not being aggressive enough.
Israeli forces now control large areas in southern Lebanon and have demolished homes and historical sites.
The statement also said the negotiators discussed a security framework that would include 鈥渢he dismantlement of non-state armed groups, and the prevention of their reemergence.鈥�
But how exactly the pilot zones will be created, and how Hezbollah will be dismantled, remain very unclear. Aoun said a string of villages just north of the Litani could be the pilot zone.
Ceasefire deal attempts to separate Lebanon from the Iran war
Lebanon has become a major sticking point in attempts to extend the separate ceasefire in the . The joint statement said that 鈥渁ll parties condemned 滨谤补苍鈥檚 attacks on countries鈥痠n the region, and ongoing activities that undermine stability throughout the Middle East, whether through support for鈥痯roxies and all other鈥痑cts of aggression.鈥�
It also included clear references seeking to separate the two conflicts.
鈥淎ll countries reaffirmed that the future of the relationship between Israel and Lebanon must be decided by the two sovereign governments. They rejected any attempt, by any state or non-state actor, to hold Lebanon鈥檚 future hostage,鈥� it said.
It added that 鈥渁ny agreement to cease hostilities must be reached directly between the two governments, brokered by the United States, and not through any separate track.鈥�
The phrasing would aim to prevent Tehran from using Hezbollah and the conflict in Lebanon as a bargaining chip in its own ceasefire negotiations.
Israel says it can continue fighting during the ceasefire
Despite the initial ceasefire deal in mid-April, fighting has continued, with Hezbollah resuming attacks after Israeli strikes in Lebanon that Israel characterized as self-defense.
That fighting shows few signs of abating. Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said Thursday the Israeli military would remain in what he described as a security zone in Lebanon, while continuing operations against Hezbollah infrastructure.
The military 鈥渨ill, at this stage, continue its fire and activity on the ground,鈥� he said. Katz said the arrangements reflect 鈥渢he reality we have created in Lebanon so far鈥� and could eventually lead to a peace agreement with Lebanon and 鈥渞eal and lasting security鈥� for residents of northern Israel.
On Thursday, the Israeli military issued a warning to residents of southern Lebanon that it was continuing to target Hezbollah 鈥渋nfrastructure located in and near the area south of the Zahrani River.鈥� It said that 鈥渁nyone who moves south of the river is putting their life at risk.鈥� The Zahrani is located some 30 kilometers (18 miles) north of the Litani River.
___
Becatoros reported from Athens, Greece.
Copyright © 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.
