United States President Donald Trump says Israel and Hezbollah have agreed to halt attacks following indirect talks through intermediaries.Posting on Truth Social on Monday, Trump said he had spoken with both Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and, through “highly placed representatives”, Hezbollah.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of list“I had a very good call with Hezbollah, and they agreed that all shooting will stop – that Israel will not attack them, and they will not attack Israel,” he wrote.No US president has ever spoken with Hezbollah, either directly or via intermediaries. At present, Washington has designated the group as a “terrorist” organisation.According to statements from Lebanon’s embassy in Washington, the proposal would see Hezbollah stop attacks on Israel in exchange for Israel halting strikes on Beirut and its southern suburbs.Trump also said Netanyahu had agreed to pull back any Israeli troops preparing to attack the Lebanese capital, Beirut. Separately, Netanyahu said he had discussed this with Trump but that Israel would push ahead with plans to strike Beirut if Hezbollah makes any further attacks on Israel.Here is what we know so far.Why does this announcement matter for the war on Iran?Iran has stated that one of its conditions for any agreement on ending the war with the US is that Israel withdraw from Lebanon.The Iran-backed armed group, Hezbollah, which is based in Lebanon, began firing on northern Israel after the first US-Israeli strikes on Tehran at the end of February.Until then, the Iran-backe …
