Israel violates ceasefire with Lebanon just hours after Donald Trump announced truce, Beirut claims

There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military, which had said earlier that its forces remained deployed in the area, in what a spokesman said was in response to continued Hezbollah militant activity.

Hezbollah released a lengthy statement on its military operations against Israel throughout Thursday, which listed its last attack as being 10 minutes before the ceasefire took effect.

Conflict between Israel and the Iran-backed group in Lebanon was reignited by the US-Israeli war with Iran.

Hezbollah opened fire in support of Tehran on March 2, prompting an Israeli offensive in Lebanon that authorities say has killed 2,000 people, 15 months after their last major conflict.

Celebratory gunfire rang out across parts of Beirut as the clock struck midnight on Thursday to mark the start of the truce and witnesses heard explosions from rockets fired in celebration, prompting a safety warning and threat of arrests from the Lebanese Army.

The truce was "essential, urgently needed and a demand shared by all," senior Hezbollah official Bilal Lakkiss told NBC News ahead of the start of the ceasefire, but said the group would not comply with Israel’s demand that it disarm "except within a framework tied to a broader national security vision".

In Qasmiyeh in south Lebanon, cars were driving across a makeshift crossing over the Litani River, hastily erected after the ceasefire came into effect.

Israel destroyed all the bridges over the Litani during the war, blowing up the one at Qasmiyeh on Thursday.

Ali Hamza, who had just visited his house in the southern suburbs known as Dahiyeh, said: "I inspected my home and praise God the building is still standing."

But he said "people are scared to come and live, and it is impossible to live in these circumstances, and with these smells. A full return is difficult now, despite the hardship of displacement".

In the largely destroyed southern city of Nabatieh, some returning residents defiantly said they would stay. Others said there was nothing to come back to.

Fadel Badreddine, who came with his young son and wife, said: "There's destruction and it's unliveable. Unliveable. We’re taking our things and leaving again.

"May God grant us relief and end this whole thing permanently, not temporarily, so we can return to our homes and lands."

Meanwhile, President Donald Trump said he was confident that an agreement could soon be reached to end the Iran war and urged the Tehran-aligned Hezbollah group to hold its fire.

He told reporters outside the White House: "We're going to see what happens. But I think we're very close to making a deal with Iran."

However, just hours later in Las Vegas, the US President went on to say the war "should be ending pretty soon".

A Pakistani source involved in mediating between the US and Iran said there was progress in backdoor diplomacy and that an upcoming meeting between the two sides could result in the signing of an agreement.

In a post on social media, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Shari Sharif said he was optimistic the ceasefire “will pave the way for sustainable peace" adding: "Pakistan reaffirms its unwavering support for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Lebanon, and will continue to support all efforts aimed at lasting peace in the region."

Later today, France and Britain will chair a meeting on Friday of around 40 countries, with Sir Keir Starmer expected to say reopening the Strait of Hormuz is a "global responsibility".

Iran has largely closed the strait to ships other than its own since the start of US-Israeli air strikes on February 28.

On Monday, Washington imposed a blockade on ships entering or leaving Iranian ports.

President Trump has called on other countries to help enforce the blockade and has slammed Nato allies for not doing so.

Britain, France and others say joining the blockade would amount to entering the war, but they have said they would be willing to help keep the strait open once there is a lasting ceasefire or the conflict ends.

During a trip to Washington this week Chancellor Rachel Reeves said a "swift and lasting" end to the conflict was the best way to get prices down for the UK public and insisted she is continuing to work "very constructively" with the US administration.

The Foreign Secretary is on her own diplomatic offensive in run-up to the US-Iran ceasefire expiring on Tuesday and is due to visit Turkey and the Gulf as well as Japan.

Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy has this week visited Oman and Kuwait and minister for the Middle East Hamish Falconer has been to Lebanon.