US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Lebanese President Joseph Aoun are expected to speak on Thursday.
“Trying to get a little breathing room between Israel and Lebanon. It has been a long time since the two leaders have spoken, like 34 years. It will happen tomorrow. Nice!" Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social.
The post followed a report in the Financial Times on Wednesday night that a ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon is expected to be announced “soon".
Two Lebanese officials familiar with the matter and quoted in the report said that a truce between Israel and the Hezbollah terrorist organization could come into effect “this week", most likely after Israeli ground forces finish taking the key town of Bint Jbeil in southern Lebanon.
Meanwhile, Israel’s Security Cabinet held a meeting on Wednesday night and into Thursday morning. The meeting concluded after about four hours, without reaching a decision on a ceasefire with Lebanon.
An Israeli official said at the end of the discussion that "at this stage, we are not approaching a ceasefire."
Earlier on Wednesday, the Lebanese newspaper An-Nahar reported that Lebanese-Israeli talks under US auspices have resulted in agreement on a framework that falls short of a formal ceasefire but is expected to pave the way for negotiations aimed at disarming Hezbollah and advancing toward bilateral peace.
The reported framework seeks to address shortcomings of the November 2024 ceasefire agreement, which did not achieve its primary objective of disarming Hezbollah and failed to ease the impact of ongoing Israeli military activity on Lebanese civilians.