US President Donald Trump asserts that a ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon was established through his intervention
US President Donald Trump urged Israel to agree to a ceasefire with Hezbollah, telling the country to “calm down sometimes and use your head” as a truce took effect on Friday after deadly strikes that killed 47 people in Lebanon.Trump told NBC News he had spoken with Israel and asked it to agree to the ceasefire, though he declined to specify whether he spoke directly with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.”It’s a positive,” Trump said of the ceasefire. “It’s a little icing on the cake,” he added, referring to the Memorandum of Understanding signed by the US and Iran aimed at ending the conflict in West Asia.”You just gotta calm down sometimes and use your head,” Trump said of his relationship with Netanyahu. “I’ve always been good with Bibi.”Hours after the ceasefire took effect, Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff began traveling to Switzerland for the first round of talks with Iran on a potential nuclear deal, Axios reported.The development came a day after Vice President JD Vance canceled plans to attend the talks, which were called off amid the renewed fighting in Lebanon. That escalation raised fresh uncertainty over the fate of negotiations critical to reopening the Strait of Hormuz. The Swiss foreign ministry confirmed the talks had been postponed and that Switzerland remained ready to facilitate them.The ceasefire came into effect around 4 pm Lebanon time following an exchange of fire, a senior US official said. Negotiators for the US and Qatar worked out the agreement with help from Iran.”If Hezbollah does not attack us, then for us it is not a time of war,” an Israeli official said, adding that Israel would keep its forces in southern Lebanon.Lebanon’s health ministry said Israeli strikes after midnight into Friday had killed 47 people and wounded 97. The Israeli military said four soldiers had been killed in an incident in Lebanon.Two Lebanese security sources said Israel carried out a dozen airstrikes in the first hour of the ceasefire but none were recorded after 5 pm.Trump again defended the deal after criticism in Washington, including from some Republican allies in Congress.”The War has diminished Iran!” he wrote on social media. “We didn’t meet out of desperation, Iran did. They are FINISHED! We’ll play out the 60 days. They get no money, not ten cents!”Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi warned that the US would be responsible for any violation of its commitments under the deal, including ending the fighting in Lebanon.The US State Department said Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke to Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and discussed holding a next round of Israel-Lebanon negotiations in Washington from June 23-25.Oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz picked up after the signing of this week’s deal. The strait carried nearly a fifth of global crude oil before it was blockaded by Iran during the war.
