The Latest: A 10-day Lebanon ceasefire appears to hold as European leaders set to meet over strait

A 10-day ceasefire announced by U.S. President Donald Trump and agreed on by Lebanon and Israel appeared to be holding in Lebanon early Friday, potentially boosting efforts to extend a ceasefire between Iran, the United States and Israel.

It was unclear whether a lasting deal would be reached between the U.S. and Iran before the ceasefire ends next week, but the pause in fighting between Israel and Hezbollah could be an indication some progress has been made.

An end to Israel’s war with Hezbollah was a key demand of Iranian negotiators. Israel has not been fighting with Lebanon itself, but rather with the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militant group inside Lebanon, which said in a statement that “any ceasefire must be comprehensive across all Lebanese territory and must not allow the Israeli enemy any freedom of movement.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he agreed to the ceasefire “to advance” peace efforts with Lebanon, but said Israeli troops would not withdraw.

Pakistan’s army chief met Thursday with Iran’s parliament speaker as part of international efforts to press for an extension to the ceasefire that has paused almost seven weeks of war.

Mediators are pushing for a compromise on three main sticking points: Iran’s nuclear program, the Strait of Hormuz and compensation for wartime damages, according to a regional official involved in mediation efforts.

Reopening the strait is a key demand by the U.S. and the international community as a global energy crisis worsens daily because of the key oil route's closure. The leaders of France and the U.K. will gather dozens of countries Friday to push forward plans to reopen the strait, although the U.S. will not be included..

The fighting has killed at least 3,000 people in Iran, more than 2,100 in Lebanon, 23 in Israel and more than a dozen in Gulf Arab states. Thirteen U.S. service members have also been killed.

Here is the latest:

German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul on Thursday welcomed the ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon and thanked the U.S. for its role as a mediator.

What is needed now, Wadephul said, are long-term agreements on securing the border, protecting civilians on both sides of the Blue Line, and ensuring the safety of UNIFIL peacekeepers.

He said the talks paved the way for a future reality in which the interests of both sides are equally taken into account: Israel’s legitimate security interests and Lebanon’s right to territorial integrity and sovereignty.

Long-term security in the region can only be achieved through the effective disarmament of Hezbollah, Wadephul added.

Relief at a ceasefire beginning in Lebanon on Friday was tempered by the destruction that many encountered upon returning to their homes.

In the southern village of Jibsheet, a trickle of residents returned to flattened apartment blocks and streets littered with chunks of concrete, twisted aluminum shutters and dangling electrical wires.

“I feel free being back,” 23-year-old Zainab Fahas said. “But look they destroyed everything: the square, the houses, the shops, everything.”

In the southern Beirut suburb of Haret Hreik, Ahmad Lahham, 48, waved the yellow Hezbollah flag. He stood on a mountain of rubble that was his apartment building and also housed a branch of Hezbollah’s financial arm, Al-Qard Al-Hassan.

Iran’s pressure in its talks with the U.S. brought the truce, condemning Lebanon’s direct talks with Israel, he said.

“Only the Iranians stood with us, no one else,” he said, calling Lebanon’s leaders “the leadership of shame.”

A South Korean-flagged tanker carrying crude oil from Saudi Arabia’s Yanbu port has safely exited the Red Sea, South Korean officials said.

The passage marks the country’s first such shipment since it began seeking alternative energy routes while Iran is largely blocking the Strait of Hormuz.

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung on Friday described the passage as a “valuable accomplishment” during the government’s efforts to overcome challenges posed by the war.

The Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries did not immediately say how many tankers would attempt to use the Red Sea route or when the vessel that passed would arrive in South Korea.

Officials say 26 of South Korea’s vessels remain stranded in the strait.

In two social media posts Thursday night, U.S. President Donald Trump said Thursday could have been “a historic day for Lebanon.”

In a separate Truth Social message after the ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon went into effect, Trump added that he hoped the Lebanon-based, Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group “acts nicely and well.”

“It will be an GREAT moment for them if they do,” Trump added.

BP has become a fifth company to strike a deal with the Australian government to underwrite fuel imports at prices inflated by the Iran war.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced the BP deal on Friday at Viva Energy’s Geelong refinery, southwest of Melbourne, that was damaged by fire over Wednesday night. He said the damaged refinery continued to produce diesel and jet fuel at 80% capacity and gasoline as 60% capacity.

Viva on Thursday secured 570,000 barrels of diesel underwritten by the government in shipments from Brunei and South Korea at prices that might otherwise be commercially unviable.

Australia has sufficient fuel supplies contracted into May, but there are concerns that shortages could emerge in the months ahead.

In this photo released by the Iranian Foreign Ministry, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, right, meets with Pakistan's Army Chief Field Marshal Gen. Asim Munir in Tehran, Wednesday, April 15, 2026. (Iranian Foreign Ministry via AP)

A young girl carries a portrait of a killed Hezbollah fighter at a mass grave where civilians and Hezbollah fighters killed in Israeli airstrikes are temporarily buried in the southern port city of Sidon, Lebanon, Tuesday, April 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)

Smoke rises following an Israeli airstrike on the village of Qlaileh, as seen from the southern port city of Tyre, Lebanon, Wednesday, April 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

Girls chase bubbles next to their family's tents used as shelter after fleeing Israeli bombardment in Dahiyeh, Beirut's southern suburbs, in Beirut, on Wednesday, April 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

Backdropped by ships in the Strait of Hormuz, damage, according to local witnesses caused by several recent airstrikes during the U.S.-Israel military campaign, is seen on a fishing pier in the port of Qeshm island, Iran, Monday, April 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Asghar Besharati)

BEIRUT (AP) — A 10-day truce appeared to be holding in Lebanon early Friday, promising a pause in fighting between Israel and the Hezbollah militant group and possibly clearing one major obstacle to a deal between Iran and the United States and Israel to end weeks of devastating war.

But it remained unclear whether Israel would completely stop strikes on Hezbollah, and whether the militant group would recognize a deal it did not play a role in negotiating and which will leave Israeli troops occupying a stretch of southern Lebanon.

Barrages of gunshots rang out across Beirut as residents fired into the air just after midnight to celebrate the beginning of the truce, and displaced families began moving toward southern Lebanon and Beirut’s southern suburbs despite warnings by officials not to attempt to return to their homes until it became clear whether the ceasefire would hold.

U.S. President Donald Trump heralded the deal a “historic day for Lebanon,” even as he expressed confidence that the war with Iran would soon end in a Las Vegas speech.

“I will say the war in Iran is going along swimmingly,” Trump said. “It should be ending pretty soon.”

An end to Israel’s war with Hezbollah was a key demand of Iranian negotiators, who previously accused Israel of breaking the current ceasefire deal with strikes on Lebanon. Israel said that deal did not cover Lebanon.

Pakistan’s army chief met Thursday with Iran’s parliament speaker as part of international efforts to press for an extension of the ceasefire.

While oil prices fell on hopes of a deal, the head of the International Energy Agency warned that energy shocks could get worse if the Strait of Hormuz doesn’t reopen soon. Iran closed the crucial waterway, through which a fifth of the world’s oil normally passes, shortly after the war began. Europe has “maybe six weeks or so” of jet fuel left and broader economic consequences will grow the longer the strait is closed, IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol told The Associated Press on Thursday.

The leaders of France and the U.K. will gather dozens of countries — but not the United States — on Friday to push forward plans to reopen the strait.

The fighting has killed at least 3,000 people in Iran, more than 2,100 in Lebanon, 23 in Israel and more than a dozen in Gulf Arab states. Thirteen U.S. service members have also been killed.

Earlier, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he agreed to the ceasefire “to advance” peace efforts with Lebanon, but he said Israeli troops would not withdraw.

Israeli forces have engaged in fierce battles with Hezbollah in the border area as they pushed into southern Lebanon to create what officials have called a “security zone.” Netanyahu, in his video address, said it will extend 10 kilometers (6 miles) into Lebanon.

“That is where we are, and we are not leaving,” he said.

Hezbollah has said that Lebanese people have “the right to resist” Israeli occupation of their land and that their actions “will be determined based on how developments unfold.”

The U.S. State Department said that according to the agreement, Israel reserves the right to defend itself “at any time, against planned, imminent or ongoing attacks.” But otherwise, Israel “will not carry out any offensive military operations against Lebanese targets, including civilian, military, and other state targets.”

Trump announced the agreement as a ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon, but a Hezbollah official said the ceasefire was a result of negotiations between the U.S. and Iran. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly.

Israel and Hezbollah have fought several wars and have been fighting on and off since the day after the start of the Gaza war. Israel and Lebanon reached a deal to end that war in November 2024, but Israel has kept up near-daily strikes in what it says is an effort to prevent the Iran-backed militant group from regrouping. That escalated into another invasion after Hezbollah again began firing missiles at Israel in response to its war on Iran.

The agreement came after a meeting between Israel's and Lebanon’s ambassadors in Washington and a flurry of subsequent phone calls from Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, according to a White House official.

They were the first direct diplomatic talks between the two countries in decades. Hezbollah had opposed direct talks between Lebanon and Israel.

Trump spoke Wednesday evening with Netanyahu, who agreed to a ceasefire with certain terms, according to the official, who was not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

Rubio then called Lebanon’s president, Joseph Aoun, who got on board. Trump then spoke with Aoun, and again with Netanyahu.

The State Department worked with both governments to formulate a memorandum of understanding for the truce.

Pakistan’s army chief met Thursday with Iran’s parliament speaker as part of efforts to press for an extension to a ceasefire that has paused almost seven weeks of war between Israel, the U.S. and Iran.

Even as the U.S. blockade on Iranian ports and renewed Iranian threats strained the ceasefire, regional officials reported progress, telling AP the United States and Iran had an “in-principle agreement” to extend it to allow for more diplomacy. They spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive negotiations.

Mediators are pushing for a compromise on three main sticking points: Iran’s nuclear program, the Strait of Hormuz and compensation for wartime damages, according to a regional official involved in the mediation efforts.

Trump suggested the ceasefire could be extended.

“If we’re close to a deal, would I extend?” Trump said in an exchange with reporters. “Yeah, I would do that.”

Lidman reported from Tel Aviv, Israel. AP journalists Matthew Lee and Ben Finley in Washington, Samy Magdy in Cairo and Munir Ahmed in Islamabad contributed to this report.

Tracer rounds illuminate the night sky as people fire live ammunition and fireworks into the air following a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, in Beirut, Lebanon, early Friday, April 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

People wave Hezbollah flags and an image of late Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, in Zefta, southern Lebanon, Friday, April 17, 2026, as displaced residents drive back to their villages following a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

Displaced people returning to their villages following a ceasefire between Hezbollah and Israel, cross the destroyed Qasmiyeh bridge near Tyre city, south Lebanon, Friday, April 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)

Iranian Jews attend a memorial for the slain Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and other victims, who were killed in the U.S. and Israel strikes, at Yousefabad Synagogue, in Tehran, Iran, Thursday, April 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

Displaced residents drive back to their villages as locals wave Hezbollah flags and an image of late Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, in Zefta, southern Lebanon, Friday, April 17, 2026, following a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)