U.S. President Donald Trump announced on Wednesday night that the leaders of Israel and Lebanon will speak on Thursday for the first time in decades.

“Trying to get a little breathing room between Israel and Lebanon,” Trump wrote on TruthSocial. “It has been a long time since the two leaders have spoken, like 34 years. It will happen tomorrow. Nice!”

The conversation is set to take place two days after a historic meeting between the countries’ ambassadors at the U.S. State Department.

According to Israeli media reports, Washington is placing heavy pressure on Israel to agree to a one-week ceasefire in Lebanon to facilitate negotiations between Israel and Lebanon, as well as talks between Iran and the US.

“Our assessment is that within a few days, we’ll have no choice but to agree to a full ceasefire in Lebanon,” a senior Israeli political source told Channel 12.

According to the report, the Trump administration understands Israel’s concerns about Hezbollah, and the suggestion of a temporary ceasefire is to allow Israel to resume strikes on the terror group if necessary.

Netanyahu met with the security cabinet on Wednesday night to discuss a possible temporary ceasefire in Lebanon.

Meanwhile, IDF forces continue to operate in the Hezbollah stronghold of Bint Jbeil. Netanyahu issued a video statement on Wednesday saying, “Our forces continue to strike Hezbollah. We are about to conquer Bint Jbeil, Hezbollah’s capital in southern Lebanon. At the same time, I instructed the IDF yesterday to continue reinforcing the security zone and also to extend it eastward toward the slopes of Har Chermon so that we can better assist our Druze brothers in times of need.”

“At the same time, we are conducting negotiations with Lebanon, a first in 40 years. They are being held now because we are very strong, and countries are coming to us—and not just Lebanon. We have two central goals in the negotiations: disarming Hezbollah and achieving sustainable peace—peace through strength.”

“And there is, of course, another matter. Our American friends are constantly updating us on their contacts with Iran. Our goals and those of the United States are identical: we want to see enriched material removed from Iran, we want to see the elimination of enrichment capability inside Iran, and, of course, we want to see the reopening of the Strait. It is too early to say how this will end, or even how it will progress. We are ready for any scenario in preparation for the possibility that fighting resumes.”

(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)