Israel and Lebanon Sign US-Brokered Peace Framework

On June 26, 2026, Benjamin Netanyahu and Lebanese President Joseph Aoun signed a US-brokered trilateral framework agreement in Washington, D.C. The deal aims to formally conclude the state of war and restore Lebanese sovereignty. It establishes a performance-based process where the Israel Defense Forces will progressively redeploy from southern Lebanon once the Lebanese Armed Forces assume security control and non-state armed groups, specifically Hezbollah, are verified as disarmed. The transition begins with two pilot zones, one north and one south of the Litani River.

Israeli leadership, including Defense Minister Israel Katz, maintains that forces will remain in a security buffer zone—approximately 10 kilometers deep—until Hezbollah is fully dismantled. This stance has caused immediate friction; the Lebanese government views the deal as a first step toward total liberation, while Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem declared the agreement "null and void" and a "surrender of sovereignty." Hezbollah supporters subsequently launched mass protests and riots in Beirut.

Despite the diplomatic milestone, hostilities continued on the ground. Following the signing, the Israeli military conducted airstrikes and drone operations in southern Lebanon, targeting Hezbollah command centers and tunnels in areas like Nabatieh. Concurrently, the United States and Iran exchanged military strikes in the Strait of Hormuz and southern Iran following an attack on a commercial cargo ship, jeopardizing a separate interim ceasefire memorandum signed earlier in June.