Israel and Hezbollah have ​agreed to a ‌ceasefire set to begin at 4 ​pm local time ​on Friday, a senior ⁠US official ​told Reuters.

“Hezbollah and ​Israel have agreed to a ceasefire,” the official ​said on ​background, adding that negotiators for ‌the ⁠US and Qataris worked out the deal with ​help from ​Iran.

“We ⁠understand that after the ​exchange of fire ​earlier ⁠today, Israel and Hezbollah are ⁠now ​in a ​ceasefire.”

The intensification of violence in Lebanon strained the US-Iranian interim agreement signed on Wednesday to end ​the wider war in the Middle East.

A Hezbollah lawmaker ​earlier told Reuters that Iran had informed the group that talks with ‌Washington ⁠could not continue without the implementation of a comprehensive ceasefire.

Overnight, Israeli airstrikes killed at least 21 people in Lebanon, the Lebanese health ministry reported, while four Israeli soldiers were ​killed in south ​Lebanon in ⁠one of the deadliest attacks by Hezbollah during this war.

The Iran deal requires the United ​States, Iran, and their allies to declare an immediate ​and ⁠permanent termination of military operations on all fronts, including Lebanon. Violence abated significantly earlier this week, but has since picked up.