The terms of the 10-day Israel-Lebanon ceasefire that took effect at midnight between Thursday and Friday were made public in a U.S. State Department statement agreed to by both governments, revealing a framework that commits Beirut to curbing Hezbollah and positions Washington to lead a disarmament push.

Hours into the pause, Defense Minister Yisrael Katz described the agreement as a “temporary freeze,” said the IDF would not withdraw from Lebanese territory it had captured, and warned that Israel’s remaining objectives in Lebanon would be completed “by force if necessary.”

“The IDF holds and will continue to hold all the areas it has cleared and captured,” Katz said in a statement. “The ground maneuver into Lebanon and the strikes against Hezbollah throughout Lebanon have achieved many accomplishments, but they have not yet been completed.”

He characterized the current moment as one in which Israel remains “inside Lebanon in the midst of a war against Hezbollah, with a temporary freeze and a 10-day ceasefire.”

Under the agreement, the Lebanese government committed, with international support, to take “meaningful steps” to prevent Hezbollah and any other “rogue non-state armed groups” from attacking Israel. Both governments recognized that Lebanon’s security forces hold exclusive responsibility for defending the country and are the only authorized arms-bearers on Lebanese soil. Both also affirmed that Hezbollah’s activity “must be curtailed.”Israel, for its part, agreed not to strike Lebanese targets, “including civilian, military, and other state targets,” unless acting in self-defense. It retained the right to take “all necessary measures in self-defense, at any time, against planned, imminent, or ongoing attacks.”

The pause can be extended if both sides agree and “as Lebanon effectively demonstrates its ability to assert its sovereignty,” the statement said. Israel and Lebanon have asked Washington to mediate further negotiations, including on the demarcation of the international boundary. President Donald Trump has promoted the prospect of direct talks between the two countries in the wake of the ceasefire.

Katz framed the diplomatic track as a second avenue for the same war aim. “The goal we defined, dismantling Hezbollah’s weapons through military or diplomatic means, was and remains the objective of the campaign, to which we are committed,” he said. “At present, a significant diplomatic lever has also been created through the direct involvement of the U.S. president and a commitment to this goal, while applying pressure on the Lebanese government.”

A senior Israeli official told The Jerusalem Post on Thursday that the United States intends to actively lead efforts to disarm Hezbollah and is prepared to commit U.S. resources to the task. “Trump wants this to happen, so this time the U.S. will be far more involved,” the official said. The State Department said Washington would lead international efforts to assist Lebanon “as a component of its broader efforts to advance stability and prosperity in the region.”

Katz said more than 1,700 Hezbollah fighters had been killed during the campaign, more than double the figure from the 2006 Second Lebanon War, and that the buffer zone along the Israel-Lebanon border had been cleared of both Hezbollah operatives and residents. “It will continue to be cleared of terrorist infrastructure, including the destruction of houses in Lebanese border villages that had effectively become terrorist outposts,” he said.

He acknowledged that the broader security zone Israel has established in south Lebanon, stretching up to the Litani River, still contains enemy fighters and weapons. That area, he said, would be cleared either through a diplomatic arrangement or by a return to combat.

“If hostilities resume, any residents who return to the security zone will have to evacuate in order to allow the mission to be completed,” Katz said, adding that Israel would also strike Hezbollah targets north of the Litani River.

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