U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday said he spoke with Iran-aligned Lebanese militia group Hezbollah through intermediaries and secured a pledge that it would not attack Israel. Trump said he also spoke to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and Israel has agreed to pull back any troops that were preparing to attack southern Lebanon.
No U.S. president has ever spoken with Hezbollah, with or without intermediaries, Reuters reports.
The group is designated as a terrorist organization by the United States. "I had a very productive call with Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu, of Israel, and there will be no Troops going to Beirut, and any Troops that are on their way, have already been turned back,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social. "Likewise, through highly placed Representatives, I had a very good call with Hezbollah, and they agreed that all shooting will stop." A Lebanese official told Reuters that Hezbollah had informed the U.S., through Lebanon's parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, that it was willing to halt attacks on northern Israel in exchange for Israel sparing Beirut and its suburbs any strikes.
