U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday that Israel and Lebanon have agreed to extend their ceasefire by three weeks, following rare high-level talks at the White House involving senior officials from both countries.

Trump announced the extension after hosting the Israeli and Lebanese ambassadors to U.S., describing the meeting as productive and signaling cautious optimism about the prospects for a broader agreement.

“The meeting went very well! The United States is going to work with Lebanon in order to help it protect itself from Hezbollah,” Trump said in a statement on his Truth Social platform.

He added that he was looking ahead to further diplomatic engagement, saying: “I look forward in the near future to hosting the Prime Minister of Israel, Bibi Netanyahu, and the President of Lebanon, Joseph Aoun.”

Trump also expressed optimism about broader diplomacy, saying he sees a “great chance” for a peace agreement between Israel and Lebanon this year.

Asked about Iran’s role, he reiterated Washington’s position that Tehran must halt its support for regional proxies: “Yeah, they’ll have to cut that. That’s a must.”

On prospects for a lasting settlement, he said: “I think there’s a great chance. They are friends about the same things and they are enemies on the same things.”

He added that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Lebanese President Joseph Aoun would “most likely” meet at the White House during the extended ceasefire period.

The initial 10-day truce, which took effect last Friday, had been due to expire on Monday. The extension is intended to provide additional time for negotiations aimed at stabilizing the situation along the Israel-Lebanon border.

Despite the truce, Trump made it clear on Thursday that Israel reserves the right to strike Lebanese targets in self-defense.

“Israel is going to have to defend itself if they are shot at… but they’re going to do it carefully, and they’ll be surgical,” he noted. 

Trump also said that Lebanon should scrap a legislation that prohibits contact with Israel. 

“I never heard of that, but… I’m pretty sure that’ll be ended very quickly,” he said. 

The talks marked the second round of direct negotiations between Israeli and Lebanese representatives in Washington in recent days. The meeting had initially been scheduled to take place at the State Department but was moved to the White House three hours before, with Trump deciding to participate.

The meeting was also attended by U.S. Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, senior adviser Michael Needham, Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, and Ambassador to Lebanon Michel Issa.

Lebanese Ambassador Nada Hamadeh Mouawad also thanked Trump for his role, though she avoided direct reference to normalization.

“Thank you for your leadership, for making sure to be presiding over this historic moment,” she said, adding: “With your support, we can make Lebanon great again.”

Israeli Ambassador to the United States Yechiel Leiter welcomed the diplomatic effort, emphasizing Israel’s security concerns and its desire for peace.

“Israel wants peace with Lebanon and Israel wants security for its citizens,” Leiter said. “We’re united with the Lebanese government in wanting to rid the country of this malign influence called Hezbollah.”

Leiter described the moment as unprecedented, saying Israel and Lebanon “have never been next to each other more than today.”

“We are going to keep going, working for peace. Let’s hope we will get it as soon as possible,” he said.

He added that recent developments had created an opportunity to weaken the Iran-backed group and potentially move toward normalization.

US officials framed the ceasefire extension as a step toward a more durable arrangement. Rubio said the additional time could help lay the groundwork for a lasting settlement.

“I’m very optimistic that in a few weeks we’ll be even closer to the kind of permanent peace that the people of Israel and Lebanon deserve,” Rubio said, adding that both countries were affected by the same threat. “Both are victimized by the same terrorist organization,” he said, referring to Hezbollah. “That threat needs to be eliminated.”

Huckabee, speaking at the White House, compared Hezbollah to “a rough little kid living in the neighborhood who keeps throwing rocks at everybody’s window.”

“If the kid will quit throwing rocks, the neighbors can get along and start actually working together,” he said, arguing that the US-led effort could help remove that obstacle.