Israel, saying It’s ‘Firmly Committed,’ Vows To Respect Ceasefire If Hezbollah Stops Attacks

Israel’s ambassador to Washington, Yechiel Leiter, says Israel “remains firmly committed to an immediate ceasefire” with Hezbollah after a flare-up in fighting derailed planned peace talks between America and Iran.Ship traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, meanwhile, slowed after a brief surge Thursday amid conflicting statements from Iranian authorities about their intentions.“At 11:30 this morning, Israel halted all offensive operations; Hezbollah and Iranian claims to the contrary are bold lies,” Mr. Leiter wrote on X. “If Hezbollah honors the agreement and ceases its hostilities, they will be met with quiet.”In a follow-up post, Mr. Leiter cited more than three dozen attacks he says Hezbollah has launched against Israel in the past two days. “It takes two to cease fire,” Mr. Leiter said.Nine Israeli soldiers were killed in attacks in southern Lebanon on Friday and Israel responded with multiple strikes. “Israel will not tolerate attacks on our soldiers or on our territory, and it will exact a very heavy price from Hezbollah for these attacks,” Prime Minister Bnjamin Netanyahu said in a statement.Iran had called off Friday talks aimed at securing a long-term peace pact with America because of the new fighting between Israel and Hezbollah. Iranian officials said they won’t travel to Switzerland for talks until the fighting stops in Lebanon. Vice President JD Vance, who is to lead the American side in the talks, also postponed his trip.Iran has also insisted that Israel pull troops out of Lebanon as part of the peace deal. Mr. Netanyahu said there is no chance that Israeli troops will leave.A Gulf diplomat told the AFP news organization the latest ceasefire deal between Israel and Hezbollah was brokered by Qatar, America, and Iran. Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said the talks in Switzerland were not urgent since the initial deal had already been signed but consultations through mediators were ongoing regarding the next phase of negotiations.Iran sent conflicting information about whether the Strait of Hormuz was open. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps broadcast a message Friday over maritime channels saying it will keep the strait closed until Israel withdraws from Lebanon and the American military fully lifts a naval blockade.The Persian Gulf Strait Authority, set up by Iran to control passage through the waterway, separately announced that ships could transit the strait 48 hours after submitting “compliant transit requests.”The conflicting statements halted almost all traffic through the strait on Friday after more than dozen ships were reported to have made it through on Thursday. An exact count was not available because some ships have turned off the transponders that allow them to be tracked electronically. Shipping companies had hoped for a quick resumption of traffic through the vital passageway transited by about 20 percent of the world’s oil and large quantities of other critical goods, including fertilizer.The memorandum of understanding that President Trump signed on Thursday called for traffic in the strait to resume within 48 hours. Almost all ship traffic has been halted for months and has led to rising crude prices.

Israel, saying It’s ‘Firmly Committed,’ Vows To Respect Ceasefire If Hezbollah Stops Attacks

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