US President Donald Trump told NBC News on Friday that he spoke with Israel and asked the Jewish state to agree to a ceasefire in Lebanon.
“It’s a positive," he told the network, adding, “It’s a little icing on the cake." He declined to specify whether he had talked to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu directly.
His comments came hours after a senior US official told Reuters that Israel and Hezbollah have agreed to a ceasefire which took effect at 4:00 p.m. local time.
An official Hezbollah source told NBC News that the terrorist group will abide by the ceasefire but also claimed that the Israelis are still firing and trying to move deeper into Lebanese territory.
Trump also told NBC News that he expects Vice President JD Vance to end up going to Switzerland for peace talks with Iran at some point, after Iran abruptly called off Friday’s round of negotiations, citing Israel’s strikes in Lebanon.
“I think he’s going to end up going back," Trump said. “Steve Witkoff is going separately. I think JD’s going a little bit later."
Meanwhile, the US informed Iran that Israel was not expected to escalate its strikes in Lebanon despite the deadly incident in southern Lebanon in which four Israeli soldiers were killed by Hezbollah fire.
Since the initial ceasefire in Lebanon took effect in April, 23 soldiers and one Defense Ministry civilian employee have been killed in southern Lebanon.
(Arutz Sheva-Israel National News' North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Israel National News articles, however, is Israeli time.)