Middle East crisis live: UN chief calls for Israel-Lebanon ceasefire to be ‘fully’ respected as it comes into effect

Hello and welcome to our live coverage of events in the Middle East.

United Nations chief António Guterres has welcomed the ceasefire announced on Thursday between Israel and Lebanon, urging “all actors” to fully respect the truce.

“The secretary general welcomes the announcement of a 10-day ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon, and commends the role of the United States in facilitating” it, Guterres spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said in a statement, adding he hoped the temporary halt to fighting would “pave the way for negotiations”.

The ceasefire took effect at midnight on Thursday (2100 GMT) in Lebanon, where Israel has been conducting devastating airstrikes aimed at wiping out the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militia.

The Lebanese army warned people displaced from southern Lebanon about returning home because of intermittent shelling that was reported after the ceasefire came into effect.

The terms of the truce, as provided by the US state department, prohibit Israel from offensive military actions in Lebanon. But they appear to leave more room for “self-defence”, including “against planned, imminent or ongoing attacks”.

We’ll bring you more on this soon. Here is a summary of other key developments:

• A 10-day ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon has come into effect, pausing fighting in a devastating conflict between Israel and Hezbollah that has killed more than 2,100 Lebanese people and displaced more than 2.1 million. The agreement was announced earlier by Donald Trump, who said he had spoken with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Lebanese president Joseph Aoun, and invited both leaders “for meaningful talks” at the White House. Both leaders welcomed the agreement. But how long the ceasefire will hold is the key question, as both Israel and Hezbollah have maintained their right to defend themselves if the truce is broken. Here’s our report.
• Netanyahu called it a “historic” opportunity for peace, though he refused to withdraw his troops from southern Lebanon during the pause in fighting. “We are remaining in Lebanon in an expanded security zone,” he said, due to the “danger of an invasion” and to prevent fire into Israel. “That is where we are, and we are not leaving.” The Israeli prime minister maintained that his key demand was dismantling Hezbollah. He has previously declared his intention to occupy southern Lebanon up to the Litani River – about 30km from the border – while Lebanon demands the complete withdrawal of Israeli forces and for displaced residents to be able to return to their homes.

People check a bridge destroyed in an Israeli airstrike in Qasmiyeh, near the coastal city of Tyre, in southern Lebanon on Thursday before the truce. The Lebanese army says the destruction of the bridge over the southern Litani River has cut off the area from the rest of the country. Photograph: Mohammed Zaatari/AP

• Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei welcomed the ceasefire and stressed it was already part of the original Iran-US agreement brokered by Pakistan. Baghaei said Iran emphasised “from the outset” the need for a “simultaneous ceasefire throughout the region, including Lebanon”, and expressed his “solidarity” with the people and government of Lebanon. He called for the return of displaced residents to their homes and emphasised the necessity of the “complete withdrawal” of Israeli forces from the south of the country – which, as mentioned, Israel has refused to do.
• The Lebanese army urged residents to “exercise restraint” in returning to their villages and towns in southern Lebanon ahead of the ceasefire coming into effect. The army added that even then residents should avoid areas that remain occupied by Israeli forces. It was followed by a similar statement issued by Hezbollah, urging caution amid Israel’s history of “breaking covenants and agreements”.
• The Israeli military issued an urgent warning to the people of southern Lebanon not to return south of the Litani River despite the ceasefire coming into force.
• In the hours before the truce took effect, Israel and Hezbollah continued to exchange fire. Just as the ceasefire came into force, the Israeli military said it had hit more than 380 Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon in the past 24 hours, including rocket launchers, headquarters and Hezbollah members themselves. Meanwhile, Israeli strikes on Lebanese towns and villages killed dozens of people, including an attack on the town of Ghazieh which killed at least seven people and wounded 33, the health ministry said on Thursday.

Explore more on these topics

• US-Israel war on Iran
• Middle East crisis live
• Lebanon
• Israel
• Trump administration
• Iran
• Strait of Hormuz
• Hezbollah

Reuse this content