Israel, Hezbollah to dial back fighting, Trump says

A destroyed building that was hit in an Israeli airstrike is seen through a shattered window of the Jabal Amel Hospital, in Tyre, Lebanon, on Monday. the associated press.
By AAMER MADHANI, BASSEM MROUE, KAREEM CHEHAYEBAND NATALIE MELZER | THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON - U.S. President Donald Trump said Monday that Israel and Hezbollah have agreed to dial back fighting after he talked with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and communicated with the Lebanese militant group through mediators.
Trump announced the development in a social media post following a call with Netanyahu. Israeli forces recently made their deepest incursion into Lebanon in more than a quarter century. Trump said there would be no Israeli troops "going to Beirut" and that those on their way "have already been turned back."
He said Hezbollah had "agreed that all shooting will stop -That Israel will not attack them, and they will not attack Israel."
Netanyahu confirmed the conversation but cast it less as restraint and more as a warning, saying he told Trump that Israel would strike targets in Beirut, Lebanon's capital, if Hezbollah's attacks do not stop. The Israeli military will continue "to operate as planned" in southern Lebanon, Netanyahu added.
There was no immediate word from Hezbollah.
The two sides have been under a ceasefire since mid-April, but Hezbollah resumed attacks after Israeli strikes in Lebanon that Israel characterized as self-defense. The fighting also presents a major obstacle in the emerging deal to extend the ceasefire in the Iran war. Tehran wants any agreement to include Lebanon.
Lebanese authorities secured Hezbollah's approval of a proposal by U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio that Israel would not strike Beirut's southern suburbs, and Hezbollah would not attack northern Israel, according to a statement issued by the Lebanese Embassy to the U.S.
Moments after Trump's message, Israel detected missile launches from Lebanon and warned Israelis in part of northern Israel to take cover.
Talks between Israel and Lebanon are scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday in Washington, where Lebanese negotiators hope to widen the scope of areas that will not be attacked in the country as they seek a complete ceasefire.
Israel orders strikes on Beirut suburbs
Trump's comments emerged after Israel's government ordered strikes on the southern suburbs of Beirut and as Hezbollah fired rockets at northern Israel, including the outskirts of the coastal city of Haifa.
A joint statement by Netanyahu and Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said the orders followed what they called repeated violations of the ceasefire by Hezbollah and "attacks against our cities and citizens."
The Israeli military's Arabic spokesman later posted on X that residents should leave the suburbs, adding that if Hezbollah continues attacking Israeli communities, Israel will launch attacks on the Beirut area of Dahiyeh, where Hezbollah enjoys wide support.
After Monday's warning, large numbers of people were seen fleeing Dahiyeh, jamming roads leading out of the area.
Israeli airstrikes overnight on southern Lebanon left six people dead, including a Syrian citizen in a village near the city of Nabatiyeh, the state-run National News Agency said. Israel struck other towns and villages near the major city, close to the strategic Beaufort Castle and other towns the Israeli military captured in recent days.