Late Thursday, local time in Sweden, U.S. President Donald Trump announced that the ceasefire would be extended for three weeks. The statement came in connection with a meeting between the countries' ambassadors at the White House in Washington, DC.
After the meeting, Donald Trump stated on Truth Social that he “looks forward to hosting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Lebanese President Joseph Aoun in the near future.” He also wrote that the United States will work with Lebanon to “help the country protect itself against Hezbollah,” a Lebanese Shiite militia backed by Iran.
However, Lebanese President Aoun has said that contact with Netanyahu is completely out of the question, according to the Lebanese news agency NNA.
Dawn attacks
The ceasefire announcement came at the same time as reports that Hezbollah had fired several projectiles at areas in northern Israel. And on Friday morning, Israeli warplanes were reported to have attacked communities in southern Lebanon, NNA writes.
"The Lebanese government has no control over Hezbollah, which is firing rockets to try to sabotage the ceasefire. Israel must retaliate. Every time we see a threat, action is taken," Israel's UN ambassador Danny Danon told CNN.
Hezbollah threatens
A Hezbollah member of the Lebanese parliament made a similar threat, claiming on Friday that "the resistance has the right to respond" to Israeli aggression at the "appropriate time," according to AFP.
The relationship between the neighboring countries has been ravaged by conflict for decades and is complicated by the fact that Hezbollah's political wing is represented in parliament and government. On March 2 of this year, Hezbollah fired rockets into Israel in retaliation for an attack on Iran during the war.
