Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has announced that Israel supports the United States’ decision to suspend strikes against Iran, but said the two-week truce will not apply to Lebanon. In a statement on X on Wednesday, Netanyahu said Israel backs President Donald Trump’s efforts to ensure Iran no longer poses a nuclear, missile and terror threat to America, Israel, Iran’s Arab neighbours and the world.
He added that the United States has told Israel it is committed to achieving these goals in upcoming negotiations scheduled for Friday in Islamabad, Pakistan. Netanyahu’s statement came after Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif announced that the US, Iran and their allies have agreed to an immediate ceasefire everywhere including Lebanon and elsewhere, effective immediately.
Netanyahu explicitly contradicted that broader application. Lebanon was drawn into the US and Israel’s war against Iran on March 2 after Tehran, aligned with Hezbollah, launched attacks on Israel. Hezbollah said those attacks were in retaliation for Israel’s killing of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on the first day of the war on February 28, as well as Israel’s near-daily violations of a ceasefire it agreed to in Lebanon in November 2024. That earlier truce had been agreed after more than a year of cross-border fire between Israeli forces and Hezbollah fighters following Israel’s launch of its war on Gaza in October 2023.
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The US suspended strikes against Iran as part of a diplomatic push mediated by Pakistan, with negotiations set for Islamabad on Friday.
However, Israel’s exclusion of Lebanon means hostilities there could continue. Netanyahu’s office did not provide further details on what military actions Israel might take in Lebanon during the truce period.
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