Trump’s ceasefire announcement, briefly explained

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Welcome to The Logoff: Israel and Lebanon have agreed to a ceasefire, President Donald Trump said Thursday in a social media post.

What’s happening? The ceasefire, which Trump said will begin at 5 pm ET on Thursday evening and run for 10 days, brings a temporary halt to more than a month of war, with the goal of allowing space for further negotiations.

It follows a US-hosted meeting between Israeli and Lebanese diplomats in Washington, DC, earlier this week — the first instance of direct Israel-Lebanon talks in more than 40 years. Trump also announced on Thursday that he would invite Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu and Lebanese President Joseph Aoun to the White House for further talks.

What’s the context? The current Lebanon conflict began in early March, just days after the US and Israel attacked Iran. Hezbollah, a Lebanon-based, Iran-backed militant group, launched an attack into northern Israel, and Israel has responded overwhelmingly: More than 2,000 people have been killed in Lebanon and around 20 percent of the country’s population has been displaced.

Israel has also created what it calls a “buffer zone,” which it says it will continue to occupy during the ceasefire, inside Lebanon’s southern border.

What’s the big picture? Lebanon’s status briefly looked to be a sticking point in US-Iran ceasefire talks earlier this month, after Iran said that Lebanon should be covered by the same ceasefire. Israel, however, continued military operations; the day after Trump announced the US-Iran ceasefire, Israeli strikes killed more than 350 people in Beirut, Lebanon’s capital.

It’s unclear exactly what Thursday’s announcement could mean for US-Iran talks, which Trump said Thursday could resume in person over the weekend.

But if the new ceasefire holds, it’s likely a positive sign. Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, the speaker of Iran’s parliament, said Thursday that “Lebanon is an inseparable part of the comprehensive ceasefire and has an important role in moving forward toward lasting peace in the region.”

Here’s a podcast rec that speaks for itself: Vox’s weekly call-in podcast Explain It to Me on why you have to be optimistic (and the difference between optimism and hope).

As always, thanks for reading, have a great evening, and we’ll see you back here tomorrow!