Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Monday night that Israel will strike Hezbollah targets in Beirut if the Iran-backed group does not halt attacks on Israeli civilians, issuing the statement roughly two hours after President Donald Trump announced a ceasefire between the two sides.

“I spoke this evening with President Trump and told him that if Hezbollah does not stop attacking our cities and civilians, Israel will strike terrorist targets in Beirut. This position remains unchanged,” Netanyahu said in a Hebrew-language statement released by his office. “At the same time, the IDF will continue operating in southern Lebanon as planned.”

Trump announced the truce earlier Monday, saying he had spoken with Netanyahu and with Hezbollah and that both sides had agreed to stop their attacks. The U.S. president said Hezbollah would cease fire on Israel and that the IDF would not enter Beirut but could remain deployed in southern Lebanon.

The terms of the agreement remain unclear amid conflicting statements from Washington, Jerusalem, Hezbollah and Beirut. A Hezbollah lawmaker claimed the truce covers all of Lebanon, not only Beirut. Netanyahu’s statement, issued shortly after his call with Trump, has fueled speculation that the arrangement was pressed on Israel by the White House.

The ceasefire announcement followed a day of sharp escalation. Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yisrael Katz ordered strikes Monday morning on Dahiyeh, the southern Beirut suburb that serves as Hezbollah’s main stronghold, citing what they described as repeated ceasefire violations and attacks on Israeli communities. The IDF’s Arabic-language spokesman, Avichay Adraee, issued evacuation orders for residents of the area before the strikes.

The Beirut strikes came one day after Israeli ground forces captured Beaufort Castle, a 900-year-old Crusader fortress in southern Lebanon, in what the military described as its deepest push into Lebanese territory in 26 years. A Hezbollah drone strike in southern Lebanon earlier Monday killed an IDF doctor and wounded seven other soldiers.

Iran condemned the Israeli operations as a breach of the broader regional truce announced last month between Washington and Tehran. “Any violation of this ceasefire on one front shall be considered a violation of it across all fronts,” Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi posted on X. “The United States and Israel bear responsibility for the consequences of any breach of the truce.” Trump has described the Lebanon front as a “separate skirmish” not covered by the U.S.-Iran agreement.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke over the weekend with Netanyahu and Lebanese President Joseph Aoun, proposing a phased de-escalation under which Hezbollah would first halt all attacks on Israel and Israel would refrain from expanding operations in Beirut, according to a U.S. official.

Direct talks between Israeli and Lebanese officials are scheduled to begin Tuesday in Washington. Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, a senior Hezbollah ally, has voiced openness to a ceasefire but questioned what guarantees would prevent further Israeli strikes.

Lebanese authorities say the renewed fighting since March has displaced more than 1.2 million people and killed over 3,370. Israeli officials have reported 24 soldiers and four civilians killed.

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