Displaced residents travel through the Qassemeh area as they return to their homes in southern Lebanon on April 17, 2026. A 10-day ceasefire agreement between Lebanon and Israel took effect on 17 April, allowing displaced residents to head south towards their homes, while the Lebanese army warned of “numerous violations” in the area.
Ibrahim Amro/AFP via Getty Images
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Ibrahim Amro/AFP via Getty Images
A 10-day ceasefire between Lebanon and Israel took effect at midnight Friday, halting fighting between Israel and the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah. Below armistice agreementIsrael reserved the right of self-defense “against planned, imminent, or ongoing attacks”, but also committed “not to conduct any offensive military operations against Lebanese targets, including civilian, military, and other state targets, through land, air, and sea on the territory of Lebanon.”
According to the ceasefire agreement published by the US State Department, both countries requested that the US facilitate further negotiations.
“This could be a historic day for Lebanon. Good things are happening!!!” President Trump wrote in a post on social media shortly after the agreement came into force. He also suggested that top Israeli and Lebanese leaders could be invited to the White House for further talks.
With a ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon a key demand of Iran, hopes were raised that the United States and Iran could resume talks in the coming days aimed at reaching a permanent end to the war in the Middle East. The war has disrupted oil supplies globally as Iran attacked ships and imposed a blockade on the Strait of Hormuz in response to the US and Israeli attacks and the US responded by imposing a blockade on Iranian ports.
The current two-week US-Iran ceasefire brokered by Pakistan expires on Wednesday, April 22.
News images showed celebratory crowds in parts of Lebanon and thousands of displaced families began returning to their homes on Friday, while Lebanese officials urged caution amid fears the ceasefire could still unravel. Hezbollah accepted the ceasefire, but said its next steps would depend on developments on the ground.
Leaders, including UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and EU officials, welcomed the agreement and called for it to be upheld.
The latest developments come three days after Israeli and Lebanese ambassadors to the US held rare talks in Washington, the first direct high-level talks between the two countries in decades.
Here are the latest updates:
World leaders on ceasefire Lebanon reactions strait of hormuz
World leaders have urged restraint when the ceasefire comes into force
A man walks through the debris of a mosque destroyed in an Israeli airstrike in Jibchit, southern Lebanon, Friday, April 17, 2026, following a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah.
Hassan Ammar/AP
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Hassan Ammar/AP
President Trump described the ceasefire as a “historic day” for Lebanon, but urged Hezbollah to maintain the agreement.
“I hope that Hezbollah will do good and good during this critical period. If they do it will be a great moment for them. There will be no more killing. There must finally be peace!” trump Said In a post on social media.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the ceasefire could open the door to a comprehensive agreement with Lebanon, but made clear Israel would not withdraw from the 10-kilometre-deep security buffer zone extended into southern Lebanon. He also said that any talks would depend on the disarmament of Hezbollah.
Lebanon’s Prime Minister, Nawaf Salam, described the agreement as a central Lebanese demand since the beginning of the war and said he hoped displaced residents would soon be able to return home.
Trump also said Thursday that he was inviting Netanyahu and Lebanese President Joseph Aoun to the White House for peace talks.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he welcomes the ceasefire Urged all parties to fully respect thisHe expressed hope that this would lead to talks towards a long-term solution.
Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, who is also credited with brokering the US-Iran ceasefire welcomed the ceasefireHe described it as a step towards “lasting peace” and reaffirmed his country’s support for Lebanon’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.
Meanwhile, Hezbollah urged displaced people not to return to southern Lebanon, the Bekaa Valley and Beirut’s southern suburbs until the situation is clearer. In a separate statement, the militant group said any ceasefire must be implemented on Lebanese territory and warned that any continued Israeli presence would give Lebanon the right to protest, depending on how events unfold.
Hezbollah has a political wing, including legislators in Lebanon’s national parliament, and militias that operate largely independently of the Lebanese government and receive funding and direction from Iran.
The Lebanese government has insisted on a ceasefire before entering into major diplomatic talks with Israel. Hezbollah has opposed the talks.
Israel had agreed to a ceasefire in Lebanon in 2024, but UN peacekeepers recorded more than 10,000 violations of that agreement, mostly by Israeli forces.
Thousands return home in Lebanon despite warnings
Thousands of people displaced by fighting in Lebanon in recent weeks began heading home on Friday, hours after a ceasefire took effect, despite warnings from Hezbollah and Lebanese officials that it was still too dangerous to return home.
The war has displaced about 1.2 million people in Lebanon, and many are now returning to their homes to assess the damage.
A Hezbollah supporter holds a machine gun as he celebrates the armistice with Israel when it came into effect in the southern suburbs of Beirut early April 17, 2026.
Ibrahim Amro/AFP
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Ibrahim Amro/AFP
Hussein Farhat, a shopkeeper in the southern suburbs of Beirut — a Hezbollah stronghold that has been repeatedly targeted in Israeli attacks — told NPR that he was thinking of going home to check on his shop, but would not go back until the fighting ended permanently.
“Just going to your home and neighborhood hurts your heart and then you leave,” he said. “It’s heartbreaking.”
According to Lebanese officials, Israeli forces have destroyed more than 40,000 homes in southern Lebanon, capturing entire villages to prevent Hezbollah from firing rockets into Israel, which Israel calls a “security buffer zone.”
The latest round of fighting began on February 28 after Hezbollah fired rockets into northern Israel following US and Israeli attacks on Iran. Israeli forces responded with airstrikes and a ground invasion of southern Lebanon.
In remarks immediately following the ceasefire announcement, Netanyahu made clear that Israel did not intend to withdraw any time soon, saying, “We are not going to.”
France and Britain host talks on reopening the Strait of Hormuz
French President Emmanuel Macron welcomes British Prime Minister Keir Starmer ahead of an international summit to advance efforts to reopen the Strait of Hormuz at the Elysee Palace in Paris, France, Friday, April 17, 2026.
Michelle Euler/AP
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Michelle Euler/AP
French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer are hosting an international summit in Paris on Friday on reopening the Strait of Hormuz, a vital waterway through which about 20% of the world’s crude oil and natural gas typically passes.
The shipping route has been closed due to war in the Middle East, with Iran effectively closing the narrow strait. Additionally, Iran’s retaliatory attacks on Gulf oil and gas refineries have caused further disruption to global supplies. As a result, some international experts Tell The world now faces “the greatest energy security threat in history”.
The Paris meeting, which will be virtual, will bring together leaders from dozens of countries, with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz also expected to attend in person.
The United States is not involved in the talks, which Macron described as focused on a “strictly defensive” mission to protect commercial shipping if the fighting stops. This includes disrupting the route, sharing intelligence, military escort and ensuring Iran does not charge ships to pass through the waterway.
Starmer said reopening the strait was a “global responsibility” as countries worked to limit the economic damage from the conflict, which has thrown energy markets into crisis.
“An unconditional and immediate reopening of the strait is a global responsibility, and we need to act to get global energy and trade flowing freely again,” Starmer said in a statement ahead of the summit.
Trump has criticized European countries for refusing or hesitating to get involved in a war with Iran.
The war on Iran has had serious consequences for the economies of the entire Middle East.
A new report by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) says that the most affected countries are Iran, Iraq and Qatar.
In addition to the disruption to the flow of oil through the Strait of Hormuz, major airports from Doha to Dubai have seen traffic decline dramatically due to the war, affecting revenues across the Gulf.
The International Monetary Fund said the country most affected economically is Qatar, with its economy having declined by about 9% this year due to the complete suspension of gas production.
The IMF also estimates that Iran’s economy will shrink by 6% this year and Iraq’s economy will shrink by about 7%.
These figures are based on the assumption that the current ceasefire remains in place and energy production will return to normal levels by June.
Elsewhere in the region, energy importers such as Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon and Pakistan have had to spend more due to rising oil and gas prices, widening their fiscal deficits, according to the report.
Kat Lonsdorf in Beirut, Aya Batrawi in Dubai, Fatima al-Kassab and Rebecca Roseman in London contributed to this report.
