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Israel and militant group Hezbollah agreed to a ceasefire Friday, a U.S. official told NBC News, after a deadly escalation between the two in Lebanon looked set to derail Washington-Tehran peace talks in Switzerland.
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An official Hezbollah source tells NBC News that the group will abide by the ceasefire but that the Israelis are still firing and trying to move deeper into Lebanese territory. Israeli officials did not immediately comment on the American official’s statement. The ceasefire was meant to start at 4 p.m. local time (9 a.m. ET) on Friday, the U.S. official said.
The intensified strikes came days after an interim U.S.-Iran agreement was signed, stipulating that all fighting on all fronts, including Lebanon, must end immediately.
On Friday, Tehran and Washington were set to sit down for their first negotiations on a lasting conclusion to the war started by the U.S. and Israel in late February. But the new Israeli strikes in Lebanon cast doubts on the deal to end the war, and Vice President JD Vance canceled his planned travel to Switzerland for the talks.
Set to take place in the Bürgenstock mountain resort in the Swiss Alps, the negotiations were temporarily postponed following the deadly Israeli attacks, a regional diplomat with knowledge of the situation told NBC News.
Tehran asked for guarantees that hostilities in Lebanon would end, as outlined in the deal signed with Washington, and mediators were working to resolve the issue, the diplomat said.
The Swiss foreign ministry confirmed early Friday that the planned talks would not take place. The meeting was supposed to have included Qatar and Pakistan.
“Switzerland remains ready to facilitate these talks,” it said in a statement, adding that “relevant preparatory work” in Bürgenstock is continuing.
Esmail Baghaei, a spokesman for Iran’s Foreign Ministry, said the Friday meeting in Switzerland was no longer urgent because the agreement has already been signed, adding that another meeting was planned in the coming days.
Speaking at the White House on Thursday, Vance defended the deal with Iran and stressed that Israel had to “respect this peace process that is fundamentally good for them and good for the entire region.”
He also hit out at Israeli critics of the agreement.
“Donald J. Trump is the only head of state in the entire world who is sympathetic to the nation of Israel at this moment in time,” Vance said. “If I was in the Cabinet of the Israeli government, I might not be attacking the only powerful ally that I have anywhere left in the entire world.”
Vance had said that the U.S. expected Israel not to “be going wild in Lebanon,” but said any continued “flare-ups” with Hezbollah would have to be managed through the diplomatic process.
In Lebanon, Israel said it targeted Hezbollah across the south of the country overnight and early Friday. Israeli airstrikes had killed at least 47 people in Lebanon since midnight, the country’s health ministry reported.
The Israeli military said that four of its soldiers were killed, including a senior commander, and another five injured. Hezbollah also reported fighting in the area.
Earlier, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he instructed the military to strike Hezbollah “with force” following the deaths of the soldiers, which he called “a blatant violation of the ceasefire.”
Israel will remain in the security zone in southern Lebanon for as long as necessary to protect its northern communities, he added. The Israeli military said later Friday that it had conducted more than 150 strikes in Lebanon since midnight, and its spokesperson Effie Defrin said the Israeli forces on the ground have “full operational freedom.”
Hezbollah accused Israel of never adhering to a ceasefire or the deal that Trump signed, which called for the immediate end of all fighting, including in Lebanon, where a number of agreements between Israel and Lebanon’s government have failed to halt strikes.
Iran has warned that it would not abide by the agreement with the United States if Israel, which has not been part of talks and did not sign the deal, continues its campaign in Lebanon.
Ebrahim Rezaei, a spokesperson for Iran’s national security commission, said Friday that Iran must not allow “the resistant people of southern Lebanon to be massacred.” Meanwhile, Iran’s army warned that it had its hand “on the trigger” and was ready “in the event of any enemy breach of commitments.”
On Thursday, Israel published a map with an expanded military control zone in southern Lebanon and said it would not rule out more attacks beyond it.
The 14-point memorandum of understanding agreed to by the U.S. and Iran calls for an immediate end to “military operations on all fronts, including in Lebanon,” as well as “ensuring the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Lebanon.”
The pact also stipulates that the key Strait of Hormuz trading route will be reopened after months of disruption for the global economy, but particularly oil and gas markets.
Brent crude steadied Friday but remained set for a more than 8% weekly decline given news of the deal.
An NBC News analysis of marine traffic through the crucial waterway revealed a trickle of ships traveling through the strait Thursday and into Friday, as two Chinese and two Hong Kong-owned ships, and a Japanese crude oil tanker, left the Persian Gulf, where they had been stuck since February.
The authority Iran has established to manage the strait issued new guidelines for vessels Friday, saying it won’t be charging any fees during the 60-day negotiation process, but a transit request must be submitted 48 hours before arrival. Iran would waive “tariffs for security, safety and environmental services” during the period, the Persian Gulf Strait Authority said in an advisory.
Yuliya Talmazan is a reporter for NBC News Digital, based in London.
Keir Simmons is chief international correspondent for NBC News, based in Dubai.
Gabe Gutierrez is a senior White House correspondent for NBC News.
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