Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah agreed to a ceasefire at 16:00 local time on 19 June, following a night of the deadliest exchanges since the signing of a US-Iran interim agreement three days earlier. A senior US official and a Gulf diplomat confirmed the truce, which was mediated by the United States, Qatar and Iran. The announcement came after Israeli airstrikes across southern and eastern Lebanon killed at least 18 people, according to the Lebanese health ministry, while Hezbollah attacks on Israeli forces near Nabatieh killed four soldiers, including a battalion commander. The violence had placed immediate strain on the memorandum of understanding signed by Presidents Trump and Pezeshkian, which mandated a cessation of hostilities on all fronts, including Lebanon.

Israel’s military stated it struck more than 80 Hezbollah command centres and infrastructure in response to what it described as repeated ceasefire violations by the Iran-backed group. Hezbollah, for its part, said it was repelling an Israeli armoured and infantry advance towards the strategic Ali al-Taher hills, claiming the destruction of three Merkava tanks with guided missiles. Prime Minister Netanyahu declared that Israeli forces would remain in a ‘security zone’ extending roughly 10 kilometres into Lebanese territory ‘as long as security needs require it’, while far-right National Security Minister Ben Gvir said ‘all of Lebanon must burn’. Iran, according to regional officials speaking anonymously, informed mediators that talks with the United States could not proceed without a halt to the fighting in Lebanon, leading to the postponement of Friday’s scheduled negotiations in Switzerland between Vice President Vance and Iran’s chief negotiator Ghalibaf. Washington, for its part, saw Trump and Vance openly criticise Israel’s Lebanon campaign, with Vance remarking that ‘you can’t just kill your way out of solving every single national security problem’.

The ceasefire preserves the framework of the US-Iran deal, which reopened the Strait of Hormuz to commercial shipping — 25 vessels transited on Thursday — and initiated a 60-day window for talks on Iran’s nuclear programme and sanctions relief. However, the postponement of the Swiss meeting delays that process, and Iran’s newly established Strait Authority signalled an intent to eventually impose fees on passage. The deal’s call to respect Lebanon’s ‘territorial integrity and sovereignty’ sits uneasily alongside Israel’s declared security zone, which it has no intention of evacuating. Lebanese President Joseph Aoun condemned the Israeli strikes as a ‘dangerous escalation’ and said his government would continue to push for a full Israeli withdrawal and the deployment of the Lebanese army in the south.

The broader war began on 28 February when US and Israeli strikes killed Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, prompting Hezbollah to open a front against Israel in early March. The US-Iran memorandum, signed electronically on 17 June, was designed to halt all military operations and avert what Trump described as an ‘economic catastrophe’ from soaring oil prices. Mediators are now working to reschedule the Swiss talks, but the ceasefire’s durability is uncertain: a previous truce agreed in April failed to stop attacks by either side. The coming days will test whether the parties can translate a fragile pause into a sustainable de-escalation.