Donald Trump has announced a 10-day ceasefire in Lebanon to be followed by a meeting between Israeli and Lebanese leaders next week, in a deal that it is hoped will bring progress toward a parallel peace agreement between the US and Iran, The Guardian reported. 

The ceasefire is due to take effect at midnight on Thursday in Lebanon, where Israel has been conducting devastating airstrikes aimed at wiping out the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militia.

Trump said on social media that the truce was agreed after he held separate “excellent conversations” with Lebanon’s president, Joseph Aoun, and the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, on Thursday.