Israel and Hezbollah Reach Partial Ceasefire Agreement as Iran Suspends US Talks

President Trump announced on June 1 that Israel and Hezbollah had agreed to a partial ceasefire. The limited arrangement calls for Israel to halt strikes on Beirut and its southern suburbs while Hezbollah stops attacks on Israel. Lebanon’s embassy in Washington said the agreement would not end the wider conflict.

Hostilities in southern Lebanon continued on the evening of June 1. Trump stated that Hezbollah had pledged through intermediaries not to attack Israel. He also said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu agreed to pull back troops preparing to attack Lebanon.

After the announcement, Netanyahu said Israel would continue military operations in southern Lebanon. Israeli ground forces are advancing toward the Zaharani River, their deepest incursion into Lebanon in 25 years. Hezbollah lawmaker Hassan Fadlallah said the group would support a full ceasefire across Lebanon as a step toward Israeli troop withdrawal.

Lebanon said it would seek to expand the partial ceasefire in talks with Israel in Washington on Wednesday. The Israel-Hezbollah conflict began on March 2 when Hezbollah fired rockets at northern Israeli communities. The fighting is now three months old.

Iranian state media said on June 1 that Tehran was suspending indirect negotiations with the United States and might end a ceasefire that has largely held since early April. Trump told an NBC reporter that he had not heard from Iran about the suspension.

Esmaeil Qaani, head of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Quds Force, threatened to expand its blockade of the Strait of Hormuz to the Bab El Mandeb Strait.

Iran has already restricted maritime traffic in the Gulf that before the war supplied one-fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas. S. oil prices rose 4 percent on June 1 following the ceasefire announcement and the suspension of talks.