Aoun says deal announced in Washington 'last chance' for comprehensive Israel truce

President Joseph Aoun said Thursday that an agreement on implementing a ceasefire announced in Washington after talks with Israel was the "last chance" to reach a comprehensive truce.

Envoys from Israel and Lebanon held a fourth round of U.S.-brokered talks in Washington on Wednesday, agreeing to implement a ceasefire hinged on Hezbollah halting its attacks.

"The results of the fourth round of negotiations, and the statement issued from it, which included very important points in Lebanon's favor, represent the last chance to enter into a final, comprehensive ceasefire," Aoun said, according to a statement from his office.

"Each party bears responsibility" if it fails to respond positively, he added.

Aoun said Lebanon would inform the United States of its position "as soon as responses are received from the concerned internal parties, particularly Hezbollah".

The Iran-backed group's chief is due to release a statement at 3:00 pm (1200 GMT).

The United States will determine the ceasefire's start date and "President Donald Trump will be the direct guarantor of its implementation", Aoun said.

According to a joint statement after the U.S.-led talks in Washington on Wednesday, "the ceasefire is contingent on a complete cessation of Hezbollah fire and the evacuation of all Hezbollah operatives from the South Litani Sector".

Lebanon's Litani River runs around 30 kilometers north of the border.

The two sides, which do not have formal diplomatic relations, also agreed to create "pilot zones" in which the Lebanese armed forces "will take exclusive control of the territory to the exclusion of all non-state actors".

Aoun said Lebanon proposed beginning the "pilot zones" in an area of south Lebanon that includes Beaufort castle, a strategic medieval fortress that Israel seized on Sunday.

Israel's Defense Minister Israel Katz said earlier Thursday that the army will "at this stage, continue its fire and ground operations, remain in the security zone in Lebanon up to the Yellow Line -- including in the Beaufort area -- and without the return of the population, while continuing to dismantle terrorist infrastructure on the ground".

After an April 17 ceasefire -- which has not been respected -- began, Israel announced a so-called Yellow Line inside Lebanese territory about a dozen kilometers from its northern border.