Israel and Lebanon have agreed to a 10-day ceasefire, US President Donald Trump announced on Thursday, hours after officials from the two countries met in Washington, D.C.
The temporary truce is set to take effect at 5 p.m. Eastern Time on April 16. In a post on Truth Social, Trump said he had just completed “excellent conversations” with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Lebanese President Joseph Aoun.
The announcement follows days of intensive diplomacy as Israeli strikes on southern Lebanon killed hundreds in recent weeks and infrastructure — including a bridge severed earlier on Thursday — was targeted across the south. The Washington talks were the first formal leader-level engagement between Beirut and Jerusalem in decades.
The ceasefire opens a narrow window for wider de-escalation across the region. It is distinct from the separate US–Iran diplomatic track, where Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth warned on Thursday that American forces were ready to resume striking Iranian infrastructure if no nuclear deal is reached.
For Sri Lanka, a durable Lebanon ceasefire would ease one escalation vector in the wider Middle East crisis that has roiled oil markets, disrupted Hormuz shipping and driven local fuel and electricity costs higher. Analysts will be watching whether oil prices retreat further in Asian trade on Friday and whether the truce holds beyond its initial 10-day window.
No further details were released on monitoring arrangements, prisoner exchanges or the terms governing the Israeli military’s posture in southern Lebanon during the truce. Lebanese officials in Washington are expected to brief Beirut overnight.
Sources: Ada Derana.
