Trump says Israel will not send troops to Beirut, Hezbollah agrees to halt fire, but Netanyahu limits the deal

A presidential announcement met with immediate pushback

On Monday evening, US President Donald Trump announced on Truth Social that he had secured commitments from both Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Lebanese Shia group Hezbollah to halt their escalating confrontation. Trump stated that after a "very productive" call with Netanyahu, no Israeli troops would be sent to Beirut and any forces already en route would turn back. He also claimed to have held a "very good" conversation with Hezbollah through high-level intermediaries, resulting in an agreement that the group would "completely cease fire" against Israel.

Israel will not attack them and they will not attack Israel.

The announcement came hours after Israel had ordered the evacuation of Beirut's southern suburbs and threatened to strike Hezbollah positions, marking the deepest Israeli military incursion into Lebanon in 26 years.

Netanyahu and his defence minister contradict the White House

Within hours, the Israeli government issued statements that sharply narrowed the scope of Trump's declared truce. Netanyahu's office said he had told Trump that if Hezbollah did not stop attacking Israeli cities and citizens, Israel would strike "terrorist targets in Beirut." The prime minister added that "the Israel Defense Forces will continue to operate as planned in southern Lebanon."

I spoke with President Trump this evening and told him that if Hezbollah does not cease its attacks on our cities and citizens, Israel will attack terrorist targets in Beirut. Our position on this matter remains unchanged.

Defence Minister Israel Katz went further, telling the right-wing Israeli Channel 14 that "there is no ceasefire in Lebanon" and that Israel would continue its operations to "frustrate Hezbollah's capabilities and remove all its agents from southern Lebanon."

Hezbollah accepts the US proposal, Lebanon confirms

Lebanese authorities confirmed receiving word of Hezbollah's acceptance of the American proposal for a mutual cessation of attacks. A statement from the Lebanese presidency, relaying a communication from the US embassy in Beirut, detailed that the deal involved suspending Israeli strikes on Dahieh, Hezbollah's stronghold in Beirut's southern suburbs, in exchange for Hezbollah's commitment to refrain from launching attacks against Israel. The ceasefire was to be "extended to cover all Lebanese territory." Further discussions were scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday to build on the progress.

Iran's red lines and the nuclear talks

Iran had earlier warned that it would open "new fronts" if Israel's offensive continued, accusing Israel of crossing "red lines." Tehran conditioned any broader agreement to end the war on a ceasefire in Lebanon, a country that has been dragged into the conflict since 2 March. A truce has nominally been in place since 17 April but has been repeatedly violated. The escalation threatened to derail a new round of Israel-Iran negotiations scheduled to take place in Washington, with Trump's intervention widely seen as an attempt to keep those peace talks alive.

Markets react to the whiplash

Before Trump's announcement, financial markets had already priced in a sharp escalation. Oil prices had surged more than 6% on the news of the Israeli advance, and European stock markets had retreated broadly, with Spain's Ibex 35 falling more than one percentage point. The subsequent confusion over the status of the truce left traders parsing contradictory signals from Washington and Jerusalem.

Panic in Beirut's southern suburbs

AFP journalists reported that hundreds of families fled Beirut's southern zone on foot, by motorcycle, or in cars loaded with belongings after the Israeli military issued evacuation warnings. Residents described a state of "general panic," with many leaving their homes even during the partial truce. The Israeli army had taken the 900-year-old Beaufort Castle on Saturday, following one of the most intense days of Hezbollah attacks on northern Israel since the April ceasefire, which had already led to school closures and restrictions.