Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday that the ten-day ceasefire with Lebanon offered an opportunity for an "historic peace agreement" with Beirut, but insisted that the disarmament of militant group Hezbollah remained a precondition.

"We have an opportunity to make a historic peace agreement with Lebanon," Netanyahu said in a televised speech.

US President Donald Trump earlier said that Netanyahu and Lebanese President Joseph Aoun had agreed to a ten-day truce starting at 2100 GMT on Thursday evening, noting that it would include Hezbollah.

"This opportunity exists because... we have fundamentally changed the balance of power in Lebanon," he added, highlighting Israel's military achievements against Hezbollah since the war first broke out in October 2023.

"This balance has shifted to such an extent that in the past month we have begun receiving calls from Lebanon to hold direct peace talks – something that had not happened for over 40 years," he said.

The premier said Israel agreed to the ten-day truce but will maintain a 10-kilometre "security zone" along the border in southern Lebanon.

He added that Israel maintained two conditions for the ceasefire: Hezbollah's disarmament, and a lasting peace agreement "based on strength."

The premier said he rejected the two conditions posed by Hezbollah: Israel's full withdrawal from Lebanese territory, and a ceasefire based on the principle of "quiet in return for quiet." (AFP)



Edited by Robert Kemp