Lebanon president says his country is in 'a new phase' after Israel truce

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said on Friday that his country was on the verge of a "new phase" of "permanent agreements", after the 10-day ceasefire in the Israel-Hezbollah war went into force.

In a speech addressing the Lebanese people and hinting at the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group the day after US President Donald Trump announced the truce, Aoun said that his country was no longer "an arena for anyone's wars".

Lebanon was drawn into the Middle East conflict on 2 March when Tehran-backed Hezbollah attacked Israel to avenge the death of Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei.

Israel responded by firing waves of strikes on Lebanon and launching a ground offensive, killing nearly 2,300 people and displacing more than a million.

"Now, we all stand before a new phase," Aoun said in his first speech to the nation since the truce.

"It is the phase of transition from working on a ceasefire to working on permanent agreements that preserve the rights of our people, the unity of our land, and the sovereignty of our nation."