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In case youโ€™re just joining us, here are the latest developments in the Middle East to bring you up to speed. Itโ€™s 9am in Beirut and Jerusalem, 9.30am in Tehran and 2am in Washington DC.

A 10-day ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon has come into effect, pausing fighting between Israel and Hezbollah that has killed more than 2,100 Lebanese people and displaced more than 2.1 million. The agreement was announced earlier by Donald Trump, who said he had spoken with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Lebanese president Joseph Aoun, and invited both leaders โ€œfor meaningful talksโ€ at the White House. Both leaders welcomed the agreement.

Israel and Hezbollah both maintained their right to defend themselves if the truce is broken โ€“ hereโ€™s our full report.

Netanyahu called the ceasefire a โ€œhistoricโ€ opportunity for peace but refused to withdraw his troops from southern Lebanon during the pause in fighting. โ€œWe are remaining in Lebanon in an expanded security zone,โ€ he said, due to the โ€œdanger of an invasionโ€ and to prevent fire into Israel. โ€œThat is where we are, and we are not leaving.โ€

UN chief Antรณnio Guterres welcomed the ceasefire, which took effect at midnight on Thursday (2100 GMT) in Lebanon, and urged โ€œall actorsโ€ to fully respect it. He hoped the halt in fighting would โ€œpave the way for negotiationsโ€.

The Lebanese army warned people displaced from southern Lebanon about returning home because of intermittent shelling that was reported after the ceasefire came into effect.

The Israeli military warned residents of southern Lebanon not to return south of the Litani River despite the truce.

Iranโ€™s foreign ministry spokesperson welcomed the ceasefire and stressed it was already part of the original Iran-US agreement brokered by Pakistan.

Israel and Hezbollah continued to exchange fire in the hours before the truce took effect.

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ยฉ Photograph: Mohammed Aty/Reuters

ยฉ Photograph: Mohammed Aty/Reuters

ยฉ Photograph: Mohammed Aty/Reuters

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