Israel and Lebanon agree to conditional ceasefire

Deal is made through US-brokered talks in Washington, DC, that did not include Hezbollah.

Israel and Lebanon have agreed to implement a ceasefire that would require a “complete cessation” of fire by Hezbollah, according to a joint statement after US-led talks in Washington, DC.

The two countries, which do not have formal diplomatic relations, also agreed on Wednesday to create “pilot zones”, in which the Lebanese armed forces “will take exclusive control of the territory to the exclusion of all non-state actors”.

The development came despite continued cross-border attacks earlier in the day as Hezbollah said it targeted Israeli soldiers and Israeli strikes killed at least 10 people in southern Lebanon.

Just hours after the agreement was announced, air raid alarms were reported in northern Israel with a “suspicious aerial target” identified, but no casualties were reported.

A joint statement said the ceasefire was “contingent on a complete cessation” of fire by Hezbollah as well as the removal of the group’s operatives from southern Lebanon.

“This is not the announcement of a brand-new ceasefire; this is asserting respect for a ceasefire that was actually agreed just last month in May, which was a 45-day extension to an already existing ceasefire that was there before,” Al Jazeera’s Manuel Rapalo said, reporting from Washington, DC.

“The fact that Hezbollah, as a group, has not been part of this negotiation makes them kind of a wild card and leaves questions unanswered as to how any sort of framework that could result from these negotiations would be implemented,” he added.

A Hezbollah official told the AFP news agency on Thursday that the group had informed Lebanese authorities that it had rejected the ceasefire.

The official said on condition of anonymity that the position, which was announced by Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem in a televised message, was passed on Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, a Hezbollah ally acting as an intermediary who “shares this position”.

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun had said earlier on Thursday he was waiting for Hezbollah’s response.

The meetings in Washington were the fourth round of direct talks between Lebanese and Israeli diplomats since fighting escalated on March 2 when Hezbollah renewed attacks against Israel in support of Iran, which led to intensified Israeli bombardments and a ground invasion of southern Lebanon.

Both sides will meet for more talks the week of June 22, the statement said, “with a view towards reaching a comprehensive agreement”.

However, Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said on Thur