Lebanon and Israel have extended the temporary ceasefire concluded between the two countries by three weeks, the American president announced following a meeting in Washington between representatives of the two countries. An announcement that comes as doubts surround the temporary ceasefire and negotiations between the United States and Iran.

Published on: 04/24/2026 - 07:53 Modified on: 04/24/2026 - 1:43 p.m.

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The President of the United States, Donald Trump, announced Thursday, April 24, a three-week extension of the ceasefire in Lebanon, at a time when efforts to reach an agreement with Iran are at a standstill.

“The ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon will be extended by THREE WEEKS,” the American president wrote on his Truth Social platform following a new meeting between representatives of the two countries in Washington.

In force since April 17, the truce which was initially due to end on Sunday offered some respite to the Lebanese population, in a conflict which has already left more than 2,400 dead and a million displaced in the country since the beginning of March.

Donald Trump assured that the United States “will work with Lebanon to help it protect itself against Hezbollah.”

The Shiite organization, which dragged the country into war on March 2 in support of its Iranian ally, rejected these talks and continues its operations in southern Lebanon, where Israel intends to create a buffer zone at the cost of destroying villages and bombings, which killed two Lebanese journalists on Wednesday.

Hezbollah announced that it had fired rockets into northern Israel in response to “violations” of the ceasefire by the Israeli army.

“I have all the time in the world”

Despite everything, Donald Trump said he expected the Israeli leaders, Benjamin Netanyahu, and Lebanese leaders, Joseph Aoun, to meet "in the coming weeks."

The Lebanese president, who has so far ruled out the prospect of such a meeting, is expected on Friday at the European summit in Ayia Napa, Cyprus, alongside his Egyptian counterparts, Abdel Fattah al-Sissi, and Syrian counterparts, Ahmed al-Charaa, and the crown prince of Jordan, Hussein bin Abdallah.

The Twenty-Seven indicated that they intended to discuss “the situation in Lebanon and the talks between Israel and Lebanon” and to maintain an “intensive dialogue” with the States of the region.

Nearly two months after its outbreak on February 28 by Israel and the United States, the war against Iran continues to weigh on energy markets and the global economy, despite the entry into force of a ceasefire on April 8.

Read alsoFood crisis: why the UN plan for a corridor in Hormuz is stalling

Traffic is at a standstill in the Strait of Hormuz, through which 20% of the world's oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG) transited before the conflict, and which is now subject to a double Iranian and American blockade.

Oil prices rose further in Asia on Friday morning, with WTI above $97 and North Sea Brent near $107.

Donald Trump assured that time was against Tehran as its oil exports were reduced. “I have all the time in the world, but Iran doesn’t,” he wrote on Truth Social on Thursday.

Khamenei “seriously injured” according to the New York Times

Washington maintains military pressure, with the arrival in the region of a third aircraft carrier, the George HW Bush. Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said he was only waiting for the green light from the United States to resume strikes.

Donald Trump, however, assured that he did not intend to use nuclear weapons against Iran, whose civilization he had threatened in early April to "extinguish" civilization.

"Why would I use nuclear weapons when we have completely wiped them out, in a very conventional way?" he said in response to a reporter's question at the White House.

Read alsoIran: Donald Trump is no longer short of a contradiction to save face

A first session of Iranian-American discussions in Pakistan on April 11 ended in failure. Donald Trump advanced "divisions" within power in Tehran to explain the indefinite postponement of a second round which had been planned for this week.

In response, the Speaker of Parliament Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and the head of the judiciary Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei gave a pledge of unity on Thursday, speaking on their social networks of "one God, one nation, one leader, one path".

While the new supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei has not appeared publicly since he succeeded his father Ali Khamenei – killed in the early hours of the war – the New York Times said Thursday, citing Iranian officials on condition of anonymity, that he had been "seriously injured", including burns to the face, but remained "alive and active".

With AFP

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