The President of the United States, Donald Trump, announced on Thursday, April 16, that the leaders of Israel and Lebanon have agreed to a 10-day ceasefire, which is set to take effect on the same day, at 5:00 PM local time.
The announcement was made by the American leader in a post published on the platform Truth Social, where he specified that he had “excellent discussions” both with the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and with the Lebanese President Joseph Aoun.
“These two leaders agreed that in order to achieve PEACE between their countries, they will officially start a TEN-DAY ARMISTICE at 05:00 P.M. EST,” wrote Trump.
The American president specified that he has asked Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and the Chief of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Dan Caine, to continue discussions with the two parties in order to transform this temporary ceasefire into a more stable agreement.
According to Reuters, Trump did not initially explicitly indicate the day the ceasefire was to take effect, but an American official later confirmed that it was Thursday, April 16.
In another post published on the same day, the leader at the White House announced that he intends to invite Benjamin Netanyahu and Joseph Aoun to Washington for further discussions.
“Both countries want to see PEACE and I believe this will happen, quickly!”, Trump further conveyed.