Senior Israeli military commanders have been instructed to prepare the forces currently deployed in southern Lebanon for the ceasefire, Haaretz reports, citing military sources.
The commanders have been told that the ceasefire could begin between 7 p.m. and midnight local time, according to the Israeli newspaper.
At the same time, reports are coming that Lebanese President Michel Aoun does not want to talk to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Sources within the Lebanese government tell AP and Reuters, among others, that Aoun will not talk to Netanyahu "in the near future."
US President Donald Trump indicated early this morning that new talks will take place on Thursday.
"Trying to create some breathing space between Israel and Lebanon. It's been a long time since the two leaders spoke to each other, like 34 years," he wrote on social media.
“Would welcome it”
Lebanon's crippled government is not directly involved in the war. Israel is initially fighting the armed and influential Shia movement Hezbollah, which is not at the table.
A Hezbollah politician told AFP that Lebanese negotiations with Israel would be "a big mistake."
The Israeli government's security council met on Wednesday to discuss a possible ceasefire in Lebanon, but according to Israeli media, no decision was made.
Delegations from the governments of Israel and Lebanon met in the United States on Tuesday, at the instigation of the United States. When the United States and Israel agreed to a ceasefire with Iran, other parties were of the opinion that Lebanon should also be included.
Invasion expands
Israel says it is establishing a “security zone” to secure northern Israel. Prime Minister Netanyahu announced on Wednesday that the zone would be expanded, prompting forces in southern Lebanon to advance further. On Thursday, a bridge along the road connecting southern Lebanon with the country’s north was bombed.
Netanyahu is repeating a long-standing demand that Hezbollah must be completely disarmed, but it is not clear how this would happen. He has received some support from the Lebanese government, but the Lebanese army is weaker than Hezbollah forces and is not considered to have the capacity to control them or Lebanon at large.
At least 2,100 people have been killed in Lebanon since the outbreak of war.
Corrected: In a previous version of this text, the wrong day of the week was specified for possible calls.
Over the past 50 years, Israel has entered Lebanon with ground forces on seven occasions.
Israel's opponent in Lebanon, the Shiite Muslim movement Hezbollah, was founded partly with Iranian help after Israel's occupation of southern Lebanon in the 1980s. It acts as a proxy for Iran in conflicts in the Middle East and has been partly labeled a terrorist organization by the EU and the US.
After a war in 2006, a UN resolution established a security zone in southern Lebanon where only the UN force UNIFIL and the Lebanese army would be allowed, but this was not enforced.
The conflict flared up again in connection with the Gaza War. In 2024, a ceasefire was reached that required both Hezbollah and Israel to begin withdrawing from a similar buffer zone in southern Lebanon.
In the spring of 2026, fighting broke out again when Hezbollah fired rockets at Israel in response to the country's war with Iran. Israeli ground forces have advanced further into Lebanon, hundreds of thousands have been displaced, UN soldiers have been caught in the crossfire, and there are warnings of a permanent occupation.
