President Trump said on Monday that Israel and Hezbollah had agreed to end their attacks on each other, and the Lebanese government said a new cease-fire between the enemies was taking shape, just hours after threats by Israel and Iran indicated that fighting would escalate.<\/p>\n
Mr. Trump, in a social media post, said that he had spoken with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel and, indirectly, with Hezbollah, the armed group in Lebanon that is backed by Iran. \u201cIsrael will not attack them, and they will not attack Israel,\u201d Mr. Trump wrote.<\/p>\n
Mr. Netanyahu later issued a statement that made no mention of a new cease-fire, though he appeared to back off an immediate threat to strike Hezbollah in the southern outskirts of Beirut.<\/p>\n
\u201cI spoke with President Trump tonight, and told him that if Hezbollah doesn\u2019t cease its attacks on our cities and civilians \u2014 Israel will strike terror targets in Beirut,\u201d Mr. Netanyahu said. \u201cThis position of ours remains.\u201d He added that the Israeli military \u201cwill continue to operate as planned in southern Lebanon.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hezbollah did not comment on Mr. Trump\u2019s statements. Lebanon\u2019s government \u2014 which does not include or control Hezbollah \u2014 issued a statement saying that it had \u201creceived confirmation that Hezbollah had agreed to the U.S. proposal for a mutual cessation of attacks.\u201d And a prominent Lebanese politician, Nabih Berri, who has acted as an intermediary between Hezbollah and the United States, said the group was prepared to accept a cease-fire.<\/p>\n
The fighting had seemed poised to worsen earlier in the day, with competing threats that seemed to signal that tenuous negotiations in the U.S.-Israeli war in Iran could collapse. <\/p>\n
The U.S. military said earlier on Monday that it had intercepted two Iranian ballistic missiles targeting American forces in Kuwait, and that no American personnel had been harmed. Mr. Netanyahu said he had ordered the Israeli military to strike Hezbollah in the heavily populated southern outskirts of Beirut, known as Dahiya.<\/p>\n
Iran\u2019s military headquarters said that in retaliation for any attacks on Dahiya, there would be strikes on northern Israel, Iran\u2019s state broadcaster reported. Iran\u2019s military did not specify if it or one of its proxies would carry out those assaults, but it said that residents of northern Israel should evacuate.<\/p>\n
In reaction to Israel\u2019s military actions in Lebanon, Iran\u2019s semiofficial Tasnim News Agency reported that Tehran would suspend its involvement in peace negotiations with the United States and seek \u201ccomplete closure\u201d of the Strait of Hormuz. The report sent oil prices surging<\/a>.<\/p>\n The report by Tasnim, which is affiliated with Iran\u2019s powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, did not name a source for the claim. Comments on social media by top Iranian officials did not indicate any move to withdraw from peace talks, and Mr. Trump said on Truth Social that talks with Iran were continuing.<\/p>\n Despite a nominal cease-fire announced between Iran and the United States in April, both countries have continued to trade strikes, straining efforts to reach a durable peace agreement.<\/p>\n Late Sunday, the U.S. military said that it had attacked radar and command sites in southern Iran over the weekend in retaliation for Iran\u2019s shooting down an American drone over international waters.<\/p>\n While Mr. Trump has repeatedly claimed that the United States has obliterated Iran\u2019s military capabilities, U.S. intelligence assessments have suggested that Iran still has significant stockpiles of missiles.<\/p>\n Talks aimed at ending Iran\u2019s control of the Strait of Hormuz, a major choke point for oil and gas shipments, and stopping the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran that began in February have advanced in fits and starts. Last week, officials familiar with the negotiations said that U.S. and Iranian negotiators had agreed on a document sent to the two countries\u2019 leaders for approval.<\/p>\n But Mr. Trump has since pushed to toughen the terms of the agreement, sending a revised document to Iran, according to three officials<\/a> who spoke anonymously because they could not discuss the matter publicly.<\/p>\n