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Middle East crisis live: Ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon takes effect; Hezbollah tells citizens to postpone returning home | US-Israel war on Iran
Hezbollah urges displaced civilians to postpone return before ceasefire takes effect
Hezbollah has issued a statement calling on displaced Lebanese residents to delay returning to their homes in southern Lebanon, the Bekaa Valley and Beirut’s southern suburbs before the ceasefire comes into effect.
In the statement, carried by Lebanon’s National News Agency, the group urged caution amid Israel’s history of “breaking covenants and agreements”.
With the announcement of the ceasefire, and in the face of a treacherous enemy that is accustomed to breaking covenants and agreements, we call on you to be patient and not to head to the targeted areas in the South, the Bekaa and the southern suburbs of Beirut, until the course of events becomes fully clear.
We understand the extent of your longing to return to your villages and homes, and we appreciate the patience and steadfastness you have shown to the whole world. However, out of concern for your safety and your precious lives, we call upon you to be patient and endure.
It echoes a similar message issued by the Lebanese army urging residents to “exercise restraint” following the announcement of the ceasefire agreement.
Key events
Here are some images coming in from Beirut amid Lebanese celebrations over the two-week ceasefire with Israel.
Gunfire reported in Beirut as truce comes into effect
Gunfire erupted in Beirut’s southern suburbs as the ceasefire with Israel came into effect, according to AFP journalists and AFPTV footage.
Lebanese state media also reported “heavy gunfire” accompanying the start of the 10-day truce, which was announced earlier by Donald Trump and came into force at midnight on Friday (2100 GMT Thursday).
Agence France-Presse journalists reported hearing shots ring out and RPGs erupting into the air shortly after midnight and continuing for well over half an hour, as red bullet traces took off into the sky.
AFPTV footage showed people returning to the city’s southern suburbs, a Hezbollah stronghold, some waving the Iran-backed movement’s yellow flag or carrying portraits of its slain leader Hassan Nasrallah, killed by Israel in 2024.
Videos circulating on social media showed queues of cars in several areas in the south as displaced residents returned to their homes.
Israel warns southern Lebanese not to return south of the Litani
The Israeli military has issued an urgent warning to the people of southern Lebanon not to return south of the Litani River despite the ceasefire coming into effect.
Hezbollah earlier called on displaced Lebanese residents to delay returning to their homes in southern Lebanon, the Bekaa Valley and Beirut’s southern suburbs before the ceasefire came into effect. The group also urged caution amid what it called Israel’s history of “breaking covenants and agreements”.
The Israel Defence Forces’ later “urgent message” on X was directed to “the residents of southern Lebanon”.
The post on X from the IDF’s Arabic-language spokesperson, Col Avichay Adraee, continued (in a translation):
With the entry of the ceasefire agreement into the implementation phase, the Israel Defense Forces continue to maintain their positions in southern Lebanon in the face of the ongoing terrorist activities of Hezbollah
Out of concern for your safety and the safety of your families’ members – until further notice – you are requested not to move south of the Litani River
Israel has said it will occupy the area under the Litani – about 30km from the Israel-Lebanon border – as part of its so-called buffer zone inside southern Lebanon.
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed on Thursday he had agreed to the 10-day ceasefire with Lebanon to try to advance a peace accord between the countries, but said he would not agree to Lebanon’s demand to withdraw from all Lebanese territory.
“We are remaining in Lebanon in an expanded security zone,” Netanyahu 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 day so far
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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 over 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.
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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,” Netanyahu said, due to the “danger of an invasion” and to prevent fire into Israel. “That is where we are, and we are not leaving,” he said. The Israeli PM maintained that his key demand was dismantling Hezbollah. He has previously declared his intention to occupy southern Lebanon up to the Litani River – about 18 miles from the border – while Lebanon demands the complete withdrawal of Israeli forces and for displaced residents to be able to return to their homes.
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Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei welcomed the ceasefire and stressed that 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 I’ve said, Israel has refused to do.
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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”.
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In the hours before the ceasefire took effect, Israel and Hezbollah continued to exchange fire. Just as the ceasefire came into force, the IDF said it had hit more than 380 Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon in the last 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.
Israel-Lebanon ceasefire begins
The 10-day ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon – announced earlier by Donald Trump – has now come into effect, pausing a devastating conflict that has displaced more than 1.2 million Lebanese people and killed over 2,100.
Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Lebanon’s president Joseph Aoun reached the agreement after discussions with the US president, Trump said on Truth Social earlier. In a follow-up post, Trump said he had invited Aoun and Netanyahu to the White House for “meaningful talks”.
Aoun welcomed the agreement, while Netanyahu called it a “historic” opportunity for peace, though the Israeli PM has refused to withdraw his troops from southern Lebanon during the pause in fighting.
Israel and Hezbollah have continued to exchange fire in the hours leading up the ceasefire, with both parties maintaining their right to defend themselves if the truce is broken.
Iran welcomes ceasefire – but insists Israel must withdraw from Lebanon
Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei has welcomed the ceasefire, according Iranian state media, and stressed that 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 – something Israel has refused to do.
Baghaei also credited Pakistan’s efforts over the past 24 hours in securing the 10-day pause.
Hezbollah urges displaced civilians to postpone return before ceasefire takes effect
Hezbollah has issued a statement calling on displaced Lebanese residents to delay returning to their homes in southern Lebanon, the Bekaa Valley and Beirut’s southern suburbs before the ceasefire comes into effect.
In the statement, carried by Lebanon’s National News Agency, the group urged caution amid Israel’s history of “breaking covenants and agreements”.
With the announcement of the ceasefire, and in the face of a treacherous enemy that is accustomed to breaking covenants and agreements, we call on you to be patient and not to head to the targeted areas in the South, the Bekaa and the southern suburbs of Beirut, until the course of events becomes fully clear.
We understand the extent of your longing to return to your villages and homes, and we appreciate the patience and steadfastness you have shown to the whole world. However, out of concern for your safety and your precious lives, we call upon you to be patient and endure.
It echoes a similar message issued by the Lebanese army urging residents to “exercise restraint” following the announcement of the ceasefire agreement.
We’re just under an hour out from the ceasefire going into effect at midnight local time, and the Israeli military has said it’s striking launchers from which Hezbollah launched rockets toward northern Israel.
The launchers fired rockets towards northern Israel “a short while ago”, the IDF said on Telegram. Minutes earlier, it said search and rescue forces were operating at sites in northern Israel “where reports of impacts have been received”.
Meanwhile, in the past few hours, Israeli forces have continued to strike Lebanon’s south, killing dozens of people.
An Israeli strike on the southern Lebanese town of Ghazieh killed at least seven people and wounded 33, the health ministry said on Thursday, hours before the 10-day ceasefire is due to take effect.
Lebanese state media reported a “massacre against civilians” in the town, noting that rubble removal operations are ongoing, while the health ministry said its toll is “preliminary and not final”.
An Israeli air strike on the town of Adloun in the Sidon district killed three people and wounded 21 others. Israel also struck the town of Marjayoun, as well as the villages of Sajd and Hanaway, and the Burj Shemali Palestinian refugee camp.
Air raids were also reported in the Bint Jbeil district, which Israel had been attacking heavily in recent days, and several other towns, Al Jazeera reports.
Lebanese army urges caution in returning to southern Lebanon
The Lebanese army has urged residents to “exercise restraint” in returning to their villages and towns in southern Lebanon until the ceasefire agreement comes into force at midnight local time.
The army added that even then residents should avoid areas that remain occupied by Israeli forces.
The army also stressed the need for residents to follow instructions issued by deployed military units for their safety, and urged caution over potential unexploded ordnance and suspicious objects left behind from Israeli attacks, calling on residents to report them to the nearest military post.
Israel to preserve ‘right to self-defence’ in Lebanon under terms of ceasefire, says US state department
The US state department has issued an outline of the details of the ten-day ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon that will begin at 5pm EST on Thursday.
It says that both parties, having met for face-to-face talks in Washington this week, “affirm that the two countries are not at war and commit to engaging in good-faith direct negotiations, facilitated by the United States”.
The ceasefire is described as “a gesture of goodwill by the Government of Israel, intended to enable good-faith negotiations toward a permanent security and peace agreement between Israel and Lebanon”.
It also “may be extended by mutual agreement” if negotiations show signs of progress and as “Lebanon effectively demonstrates its ability to assert its sovereignty” (i.e. curb Hezbollah).
However, it reiterates Israel’s right “to take all necessary measures in self-defense, at any time, against planned, imminent, or ongoing attacks”.
Once the ceasefire begins, the Lebanese government, with international support, “will take meaningful steps to prevent Hezbollah and all other rogue non-state armed groups” in its country, it goes on.
All parties involved in the ceasefire recognise the “exclusive responsibility for Lebanon’s sovereignty and national defense”, it says.
And finally, it states that Israel and Lebanon have asked that the US “further direct negotiations between the two countries with the objective of resolving all remaining issues”, including the demarcation of borders and a long-term peace deal.
Donald Trump says he expects leaders from Israel and Lebanon in “four or five days”.
Trump spoke to both leaders as the ceasefire was announced. He said he was working on a longer term deal.
“It’s very exciting. I think we’re going to have a deal where we’re going to have a meeting, first time in 44 years, and Lebanon will be meeting with Israel, and they’re probably going to do it at the White House over the next week or two,” Trump said, as reported by Reuters.
Paul Quinn, 52, is found guilty of the rape for which Andrew Malkinson was jailed for 17 years.
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Sean Shibe: Vesper review – ever imaginative guitar virtuouso brings mind-expanding flights of fancy | Music
On his new album, Sean Shibe surveys the guitar’s expressive potential through the lens of three British composers. There are interlocking themes here – Spain, 20th-century painters, antique musical forms – but this thoughtfully curated programme can be equally enjoyed piece by piece as a series of mind-expanding flights of fancy.
Thomas Adès’s Forgotten Dances pays homage to the baroque dance suite, the composer’s quirky titles imbuing traditional forms with an additional imaginative layer. Overture, Queen of the Spiders, for example, combines stately harmonics with sneaking slides and the occasional pounce (“fatal for the fly!” in the composer’s words). Barcarolle – The Maiden Voyage is a nostalgic lapping gymnopedie; Carillon de Ville a pealing tribute to the guitar-playing Hector Berlioz. In Vesper (for Henry Purcell), Adès reimagines the consolation of the older composer’s Evening Hymn. Shibe’s playing throughout is acutely articulate and technically impeccable.
The revelation for some will be five melodic miniatures by Harrison Birtwistle, three of them piano originals arranged for guitar by Forbes Henderson. Berceuse de Jeanne and Sleep Song, the latter written for his 10-year-old son, are bewitching lullabies. The gently introspective Oockooing Bird, written when the composer was just 16, is Birtwistle’s earliest acknowledged score. At more than 18 minutes, Beyond the White Hand is the thorniest music here. Shibe masters its fragmentary architecture, though it remains a tough nut to crack.
James Dillon’s 12 Caprices, a series of concise meditations exploring the relationship between the structure of the instrument and its modes of expression, brings this imaginative recital to a somewhat elusive conclusion.
It comes after a video is shared in which a group claims to have targeted the nearby Embassy of Israel.
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