EU welcomes Lebanon ceasefire; Costa: “It must be implemented and verified on the ground”

Brussels – Amid fears and hopes, the European Union welcomes the news of a ten-day ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon, negotiated without Hezbollah’s involvement and which came into effect at 11 pm Italian time last night (16 April). “The 10-day ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon is excellent news. It must now be implemented and verified on the ground,” European Council President Antonio Costa wrote on X. However, everyone knows the fragility of the situation, given that shortly after midnight, the Lebanese army reported Israeli attacks to which Hezbollah reacted. For the former Portuguese prime minister, therefore, “it is essential that Israel and Lebanon engage in meaningful negotiations that deliver concrete results – for the sake of their peoples and the prospect of a sustainable peace.” From Brussels, “The EU will continue to support Lebanon.

Empowering the authorities to disarm Hezbollah is the only sustainable solution for restoring Lebanon’s stability.”

The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, has spoken out in support of Lebanon’s territorial integrity and sovereignty. “I welcome the announced 10-day ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon, mediated by President Trump.

This is a relief, as this conflict has already claimed far too many lives,” von der Leyen pointed out on X. “Now, we need not just a temporary pause, but a path to permanent peace.

Europe will continue to call for the full respect of Lebanon’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.

And we will keep supporting the Lebanese people through substantial humanitarian aid,” she emphasized.

 The announcement was made in the early hours of the morning in Europe by US President Donald Trump on his social media account Truth. “I just had excellent conversations with the Highly Respected President Joseph Aoun of Lebanon and Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu of Israel. These two Leaders have agreed that in order to achieve PEACE between their Countries, they will formally begin a 10 Day CEASEFIRE at 5 P.M. EST,” he wrote. “On Tuesday, the two Countries met for the first time in 34 years here in Washington, D.C., with our Great Secretary of State, Marco Rubio. I have directed Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Rubio, together with the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Dan Razin’ Caine, to work with Israel and Lebanon to achieve a Lasting PEACE,” he concluded. Upon hearing the news, the Lebanese people took to the streets with fireworks and celebratory gunfire, and thousands of displaced families poured onto the main motorway leading to southern Lebanon. 

The UN Secretary-General, António Guterres, also expressed words of relief. “I welcome the announcement of a ceasefire between Israel & Lebanon, and commend the role of the US in facilitating it.

I hope this will pave the way for negotiations towards a long-term solution to the conflict & contribute to ongoing efforts toward a lasting & comprehensive peace in the region,” he wrote on X. “I urge everyone to fully respect the ceasefire and to comply with international law at all times,” he added. 

Meanwhile, however, through Guterres’s spokesperson, Stephane Dujarric, the United Nations reports that “the humanitarian situation continues to deteriorate” because “OCHA (Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs) says that in Lebanon 1.2 million people have been displaced” and “fighting continues to threaten civilian movement  and humanitarian access”. For this reason, “the United Nations, through our political and peacekeeping missions, remains ready to support these efforts and continues to urge the full implementation of Security Council resolution 1701, and that full implementation is towards a permanent ceasefire and long-term solution to the conflict.” 

So there is hope, but fears about its durability. The French President, Emmanuel Macron, has made this clear. “I express my full support for the ceasefire between Hezbollah and Israel, as announced by President Trump yesterday,” but “I also express my concern that it may already be undermined by the continuation of military operations,” he wrote on X. “I call for the safety of the civilian populations on both sides of the border between Lebanon and Israel. Hezbollah must lay down its arms. Israel must respect Lebanese sovereignty and stop the war,” he stressed. 

Meanwhile, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, in a statement, defined the announcement of a ceasefire between Lebanon and Israel as “excellent news” and congratulated the “Lebanese and Israeli Governments on achieving this important result, thanks to the mediation of the United States.” For Meloni, “it is now essential that the ceasefire be fully respected”, adding that “Hezbollah, which is responsible for having initiated this conflict, must cease all actions against Israel and respect the decisions taken by the Lebanese Government.” Meloni also hopes that from this point onwards it will be possible to “create the conditions for successful negotiations between Israel and Lebanon, leading to a full and lasting peace,” and, “in this context, Italy will continue to do its part by contributing to peacekeeping along the Blue Line through its military contingent in UNIFIL, the UN mission under its command, and will continue to support Lebanon’s sovereignty, including through the strengthening of the Lebanese armed forces.”

Tehran also welcomed the truce. Trump stated that the United States was “very close” to an agreement as the regime is willing “to get rid of its enriched uranium,” one of Washington’s key demands. According to reports by the Iranian state news agency Tasnim, a spokesperson for the Foreign Ministry noted that from the outset Iran had emphasized “the need to establish a simultaneous ceasefire across the entire region, including Lebanon, and has continued to pursue this matter seriously even after the Islamabad negotiations.”

 Meanwhile, however, while Trump takes credit for resolving the war, Israel’s ally is facing a lukewarm reception from its own public regarding the ceasefire. Yair Lapid, leader of the opposition, wrote on X, that “not for the first time, all the promises of this government have come crashing down on the ground of reality. The conflict in Lebanon can only end in one way: removing the threat to the northern settlements permanently. This will no longer happen in this government, we will do it in the next government,” he added. And the The Time of Israel daily reported that the White House occupant has “convinced the Israeli prime minister to accept the truce” and that “the news took the Israeli security cabinet by surprise” prompting “harsh rebukes from the mayors of northern Israel, who claimed that the government had failed to guarantee the safety of their residents and warned that Israel was ‘losing its way’.”

 Meanwhile, the Lebanese group Hezbollah has stated that its fighters are “ready to attack” should Israel violate the ceasefire. In a statement, the pro-Iranian party claimed to have carried out “2,184 military operations” against Israel and the Israeli army on Lebanese territory during the 45-day war. “The fighters will keep their fingers on the trigger because they fear the enemy’s betrayal,” the statement added.