Ceasefire agreed between Israel and Lebanon – Trump

A ten-day truce will begin at 5 PM EST (22:00 GMT) on Thursday following talks between the sides, the US president has announced

Published 16 Apr, 2026 16:10 |

US President Donald Trump has announced that a ten-day ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon has been agreed upon following talks in Washington.

In a post on Truth Social on Thursday, Trump stated the truce would begin at 5 PM EST (22:00 GMT),following what he described as “excellent conversations” with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The talks, held in Washington DC, were thefirst direct meeting between the two nations “in 34 years” andinvolved US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Trump said, adding thathe had directed US officials to work with both sides toward a “lasting peace.” Trump also claimed that the deal would be his “10th” such achievement.

Trump did not mention Israel’s ongoing war with Hezbollah after its invasion of southern Lebanon in early March, or itsattempt to effectively annex some 15% of the country. Last week, the IDF carried out its largest wave of strikes across Lebanon since the conflict began, pounding central Beirut just hours after the announcement of a two-week ceasefire between the US and Iran.

Israel has killed over 2,000 people and wounded thousands more since March 2, including hundreds of women and children, according to Lebanon’s Health Ministry. Around 1.2 million people have been displaced.

In a follow-up post,Trump invited Netanyahu and Aoun to the White House, describing it as the “first meaningful talks” between the two countries since 1983.

Israeli officials reportedly expressed “outrage” after Trump announced the ceasefireahead of the planned Israeli security cabinet call to discuss a truce. Netanyahu told the ministers that the deal would begin “at the request of Trump,” according to Ynet, adding that Israeli forces would remain in their positions in southern Lebanon.

Trump’s announcement comes amid deadly ongoing Israeli attacks on Lebanese civilians. On Wednesday,Netanyahu said he had ordered an expansion of military operations. Multiple strikes on the village of Mayfadoun the same day reportedly left four paramedics dead and six others wounded.Strikes were also reported near one of the last functioning hospitals in southern Lebanon, in the town of Tebnine.

https://www.rt.com/news/638521-trump-israel-lebanon-ceasefire/

>>24506840

What’s funny is Israel announced the negotiations between Israel and Lebanon failed yesterday. I wonder what Trump and Rubio told Bibi yesterday.

Maybe Bibi and Israel taking over all the countries in the Middle East is not going happen. He’s not very joyful about the Abraham Accords!

Pentagon taps US carmakers for weapons production – WSJ

Washington has reportedly approached General Motors and Ford as it seeks to expand military output amid ongoing conflicts

Published 16 Apr, 2026 16:27 |

The Pentagon has approached major US car manufacturers General Motors and Ford about producing weapons and military equipment, the Wall Street Journal has reported, citing sources.

General Motors already supplies military vehicles to the Pentagon through its GM Defense unit, while Ford has no major military contracts.

The discussions reportedly involved senior executives and focused on whether – andhow quickly – civilian factories could be redirected toward producing munitions and other military supplies, as Washington seeks to replenish stockpilesdepleted by the Ukraine conflict and the war on Iran, the outlet wrote on Wednesday.

GE Aerospace and vehicle and machinery maker Oshkosh were also involved in the talks, which began before the US-Israeli war against Iran started on February 28, it added.

Officials have cast thepush as a move to put industry on a “wartime footing,” the outlet noted, invoking World War II-era mobilization, when Detroitautomakers halted car output to produce bombers, aircraft engines and trucks.

The war against Iran has significantly strained US weapons stockpiles. The American military has launched more than 850 Tomahawk cruise missiles during the first four weeks of the campaign. The rate has prompted alarm among some Pentagon officials, the Washington Post reported last month. While the US Department of Wardoes not disclose the exact number of Tomahawks it has, analysis suggests that before Operation Epic Fury,the US Navy had between 4,000 and 4,500 such missiles.

US President Donald Trump has requested a record-breaking military budget of around $1.5 trillion for the 2027 fiscal year, up from nearly $1 trillion this year, according to the administration’s budget outline. The proposal includes more than $1.1 trillion in base defense funding alongside additional allocations tied to ongoing military operations.

The war in Iran is costing the US government roughly $2 billion a day, former congresswomanMarjorie Taylor Greene claimedon X on Thursday. Independent online tracker WarSpend estimates that Washington has spent nearly $48 billion on the conflict since its start.

https://www.rt.com/news/638501-pentagon-us-carmakers-weapons-production/