Israel and Lebanon agreed Wednesday to renew their fragile cease-fire and create a number of "pilot" security zones inside Lebanon from which Hezbollah militants would be banned.
In a joint statement released after a fourth round of U.S.-mediated talks at the State Department, the two sides said the cease-fire "is contingent on a complete cessation of Hezbollah fire and the evacuation of all Hezbollah operatives" from areas south of the Litani River. It was not immediately clear how the security zones would be established but the agreement calls for the Lebanese army to take full control of those areas.
"These steps will enable progress towards a comprehensive peace and security agreement," the statement said. "All countries reaffirmed that the future of the relationship between Israel and Lebanon must be decided by the two sovereign governments. They rejected any attempt, by any state or non-state actor, to hold Lebanon's future hostage."
The latter is a reference to Iran, which supports Hezbollah and has insisted that Israeli attacks on Lebanon be halted as part of a tentative agreement with the U.S. to end the conflict with Iran. Hezbollah is not part of the Israel-Lebanon talks.
The U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday backed a Democratic-led resolution aiming to stop the Iran war until hostilities are authorized by Congress, reflecting growing congressional concern, even among President Donald Trump's Republicans, over the war.
The House voted 215 to 208, as four Republicans voted with Democrats in favor of the war powers resolution. It was the latest setback for Trump in Congress despite his party's slim majorities in both chambers.
The vote is largely symbolic. Any resolution would also have to pass the Senate to become effective, and garner the two-thirds majorities in both chambers to overcome an almost certain Trump veto.
However, it comes after three previous war powers resolutions had failed in the House by increasingly slim margins. And the Senate advanced a separate, but similar resolution last month in a procedural vote, after seven previous attempts had failed.