10-day ceasefire aims to grow momentum generated in Tuesday's talks, Israeli official says

The ceasefire in Lebanon aims to grow momentum that was generated in talks on Tuesday between Israeli and Lebanese officials, an Israeli official told CBS News. Those talks were held in Washington, D.C., and led by Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

Israel has agreed it will only respond militarily during the ceasefire to "imminent threats from Hezbollah," the official said, who described it as in keeping with a November 2024 Biden-era deal. Hezbollah is a Lebanese militia backed by Iran as well as a political force within Lebanon, and Tehran has historically used it to project power in the region.

The truce will test whether the Lebanese state military — the Lebanese Armed Forces — is able to take on Hezbollah in Lebanon. It is unclear to what extend the U.S. military will be providing support to enforce or monitor the ceasefire.

It is clear that much of what happens next is also dependent on what materializes with the U.S.-Iran talks. In the days following the Feb. 28 beginning of the war, Hezbollah fired missiles across the border into Israel, which sparked this part of a regional war. Israel responded with a ground invasion of Lebanon as well as widespread bombardment of the country.

The U.S. and Israel are allied in their joint war against Iran.

After Mr. Trump accepted the two-week ceasefire with Iran last week, Israel said it did not extend to its war with Hezbollah although the mediator, Pakistani officials, had announced it did.