Celebrations in Lebanon as ceasefire with Israel goes into effect and Trump hails ‘historic’ peace effort with Iran: ‘Good things are happening!’

There were great celebrations in Lebanon as the 10-day ceasefire with Israel came into force on Friday, which US President Donald Trump praised as a “historic day”.

Trump announced the agreement after meeting with Israeli and Lebanese officials on Thursday, noting that representatives from both countries met in Washington on Tuesday in the first diplomatic encounter in more than 30 years.

When the ceasefire came into force on Friday, gunshots echoed throughout Beirut as citizens fired their guns into the air in celebration.

At the same time, displaced families began returning to their homes in southern Lebanon; This led to long caravans of cars blocking the roads, with residents waving flags from windows. According to The New York Times.

Lights and fireworks also lit up the night sky.

As the celebrations continued, Trump used his Truth Social page to promote the deal he brokered.

“This could be a historic day for Lebanon,” the president wrote. ‘Good things are happening!!!’

The ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon represents an important step for the United States to sign a peace deal with Iran, which has said it will not begin a second round of peace talks with the United States unless Israel enters into a ceasefire with Lebanon.

The Israeli government had previously announced that Hezbollah, an Iran-backed militant group in Lebanon, was not included in the two-week ceasefire agreement between the USA, Israel and Iran and that attacks between the two countries continued.

But the agreed ceasefire remains worrisome on Friday; Israeli officials promised to keep their forces in southern Lebanon, saying they would attack if threatened, and Hezbollah said the Lebanese people had the ‘right to resist’.

Citizens displaced from their homes in southern Lebanon blocked roads as they returned home on Friday

President Donald Trump hailed the ceasefire as a ‘historic day for Lebanon’ in a post on his Truth Social page

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he agreed to a ceasefire to “advance” peace efforts with Lebanon, but said Israeli troops would not withdraw.

Israeli forces engaged in fierce clashes with Hezbollah in the border region as they advanced towards southern Lebanon to establish what authorities call a ‘security zone’. Netanyahu said in his video speech that it would extend six miles into Lebanon.

‘We are here and we are not leaving,’ he said.

Israel’s Ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Danon, also told reporters at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Washington DC: ‘We will have to follow what is happening on the ground very carefully.

‘We’re not going anywhere. We are holding our positions,’ he vowed, noting: ‘The problem is not with the Lebanese government, the problem is with Hezbollah. And it will be challenging.”

Hezbollah later responded that ‘Israel’s occupation of our territory gives Lebanon and its people the right to resist, and this issue will be determined by how developments develop’; This was a stance that could complicate the ceasefire.

However according to the ceasefire agreement Israel reserves the right to defend itself ‘at all times against planned, imminent or ongoing attacks’.

Otherwise, Israel ‘will not conduct any military offensive operations against Lebanese targets, including civilian, military and other state targets,’ the US State Department said.

Displaced residents are seen returning to Dahiyeh, in Beirut’s southern suburbs, in a vehicle loaded with belongings.

Lasers lit up the sky over Beirut as the ceasefire agreement came into force

The statement suggested that Israel would maintain the freedom to attack at will, as it had in the months following the ceasefire that ended the previous war. This time Hezbollah announced that it would respond to any attack by Israel.

It remains unclear when the 1 million people displaced by the war will be able to return safely.

But Lebanon’s state-run National News agency reported that Israel had already reported this. About half an hour after the ceasefire came into force, shelling continued in the villages of Khiam and Dibbine. The Israeli military said it was examining reports of shelling and artillery fire in southern Lebanon.

At the same time, Hezbollah continued to fire rockets into northern Israeli towns and communities until the beginning of the ceasefire. Air raid sirens went off less than 10 minutes before midnight in some frequently targeted border towns.

A White House official told The Associated Press that the agreement came after a meeting in Washington between the ambassadors of Israel and Lebanon, followed by intense phone calls between Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

These were the first direct diplomatic talks between the two countries in decades. Hezbollah had opposed direct talks between Lebanon and Israel.

President Trump announced the ceasefire agreement after meeting with Israeli and Lebanese officials on Thursday.

The US president met on Wednesday evening with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who agreed to a ceasefire under certain conditions, and later met with Lebanese president Joseph Aoun.

Trump met with Netanyahu on Wednesday evening, who agreed to a ceasefire with certain conditions, according to the official, who was not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

Rubio then called Lebanese President Joseph Aoun, who boarded the ship. Trump then met with Aoun and again with Netanyahu.

The State Department worked with both governments to prepare a memorandum of understanding for a ceasefire.

Trump also invited the leaders of Israel and Lebanon to the White House for what he said would be the “first meaningful talks” between the countries since 1983.

“Both sides want to see PEACE and I believe it will happen quickly,” Trump wrote on social media.

Lebanese officials claim that Israeli attacks have killed more than 2,100 people and displaced more than 1 million in the country, while Israeli officials say at least a dozen Israeli soldiers and two civilians have died in Hezbollah’s attacks.

Pakistani army chief Gen. Asim Munir (left) was in the Iranian capital Tehran on Thursday to secure the second round of talks. He is seen with Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Galibaf (right).

Meanwhile, Pakistani Chief of General Staff Gen. Asim Munir was in Iran’s capital Tehran on Thursday to secure a second round of talks ahead of April 22, the deadline for a two-week ceasefire between the United States, Israel and Iran.

Trump said the first round of talks last weekend, in which the Iranians have been pushing for the right to enrich uranium for 20 years, failed.

However, Vice President J.D. Vance, Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, and Special Envoy Steve Witkoff reportedly continue to communicate with Iranian officials and their intermediaries.

Following Thursday’s ceasefire agreement between Israeli and Lebanese forces, Trump sounded optimistic about bringing Iranian officials back to the negotiating table; He even told reporters that he would personally go to Pakistan if a peace agreement was signed.

He claimed: ‘They agreed to give us back the underground nuclear dust because of our attack with B-2 bombers.’

‘So we have a lot of agreements with Iran and I think something very positive will happen.’

He also suggested that negotiations could begin as early as this weekend.

Two Iranian sources also told Reuters there were signs that an agreement had been reached on the stockpile of highly enriched uranium.

However, tensions remain over the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow waterway through which one fifth of the world’s oil supply passes.

Tension continues over control of the Strait of Hormuz, which is blockaded by US naval forces

One-fifth of world oil supply passes through narrow waterway

The United States imposed a naval blockade of all Iranian ports as Iranian forces sought to maintain control of the vital waterway.

However, the Iranian military has warned that it will retaliate by blocking other important shipping routes if the US blockade continues.

On Wednesday, Major General Ali Abdollahi Aliabadi, commander of Iran’s top military headquarters, threatened to halt all trade in the Persian Gulf, Gulf of Oman and the Red Sea. NPR reports.

Of particular concern is the Bab al-Mandeb, a narrow waterway in the Red Sea for ships sailing between Europe and Asia.

Iran-backed Houthi militants control much of the coastline and have previously disrupted shipping at the crossing during the height of the war in Gaza.

Another route that could be jeopardized if Iran retaliates is the pipeline that Saudi Arabia used to divert crude oil from the Persian Gulf to the Red Sea soon after the war broke out in late February.

As a ceasefire was declared between Israel and Lebanon on Thursday, some Iranian officials doubled down on this rhetoric; One of the top aides of Iran’s new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei said that the country would sink US ships if Trump tried to establish ‘police’ in the Bosphorus.

The official added that he welcomed the ground attack as a chance to take US soldiers hostage.

Mohsen Rezai, the former commander-in-chief of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, also told Iran’s Fars news agency that he personally opposes the ceasefire and that Iran is ready for a long-term war with the United States.