The Times of Israel is liveblogging Friday’s events as they unfold.

Amid celebratory gunfire, residents who fled Hezbollah’s Beirut stronghold start returning after truce takes effect

Gunfire erupted in Beirut’s southern suburbs after a ceasefire with Israel came into effect at midnight, according to AFP journalists and AFPTV footage.

State media also reports “heavy gunfire” accompanying the start of the 10-day truce, announced earlier by US President Donald Trump.

AFP journalists heard shots ring out and RPGs erupting into the air shortly after midnight and continuing for well over half an hour, as red bullet traces took off into the sky.

AFPTV footage shows people returning to the city’s southern suburbs, a Hezbollah stronghold, some waving the Iran-backed terror movement’s yellow flag or carrying portraits of its slain leader Hassan Nasrallah, killed by Israel in 2024.

Videos circulating on social media show lines of cars in several areas in the south as displaced residents return to their homes.

Trump seems to sour on Mamdani over new NY tax proposal after appearing to establish warm ties

US President Donald Trump seems to turn on New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani after the pair surprised many by appearing to have established a warm working relationship.

“Sadly, Mayor Mamdani is DESTROYING New York! It has no chance!” Trump writes on Truth Social, a day after New York Governor Kathy Hochul announced a proposed tax backed by Mamdani on second homes of non-full time state residents worth over $5 million.

“The United States of America should not contribute to its failure. It will only get WORSE.”

“The TAX, TAX, TAX Policies are SO WRONG. People are fleeing. They must change their ways, AND FAST. History has proven, THIS ‘STUFF’ JUST DOESN’T WORK,” Trump writes.

Iran’s top negotiator claims credit for Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire

Iran’s top negotiator and parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf tries to take credit for the Lebanon ceasefire.

“The ceasefire was nothing but a result of Hezbollah’s steadfastness and the unity of the Axis of Resistance,” Ghalibaf says in a statement on X.

The US and Israel have sought to frame the truce as the result of a separate channel of negotiations between Israel and Lebanon, while Tehran and Pakistani mediators have insisted that Hezbollah was supposed to be covered by the truce reached last week between the US and Iran.

Tehran had threatened to upend its truce with the US if Israeli strikes against Lebanon did not cease.

“We are true to our word,” Ghalibaf says.

كما قلتُ ليلة أمس أيضاً، إن وقف إطلاق النار لم يكن إلا نتيجة لصمود حزب الله واتحاد محور المقاومة؛ وسوف نتعامل مع وقف إطلاق النار هذا بحذر، وسنبقى معًا حتى التحقق الكامل للنصر. أشكر الجهود الوسيطة لدولة باكستان والجنرال عاصم منير لإقرار وقف إطلاق النار هذا. إنّا على العهد… https://t.co/6f3CIa3jNH — محمدباقر قالیباف | MB Ghalibaf (@mb_ghalibaf) April 16, 2026

كما قلتُ ليلة أمس أيضاً، إن وقف إطلاق النار لم يكن إلا نتيجة لصمود حزب الله واتحاد محور المقاومة؛ وسوف نتعامل مع وقف إطلاق النار هذا بحذر، وسنبقى معًا حتى التحقق الكامل للنصر.

أشكر الجهود الوسيطة لدولة باكستان والجنرال عاصم منير لإقرار وقف إطلاق النار هذا.

إنّا على العهد… https://t.co/6f3CIa3jNH

— محمدباقر قالیباف | MB Ghalibaf (@mb_ghalibaf) April 16, 2026

Ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah now in effect

As midnight arrives, the ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah has now entered into effect, according to the timeline provided by US President Donald Trump earlier.

Sirens sounded minutes ago in northern communities, as the terror group carried out launches minutes before the deadline, firing a barrage of five rockets at the Galilee Panhandle. According to the IDF, most of the rockets were intercepted and one struck an open area.

The IDF says it struck over 380 Hezbollah targets in the south of the country in the past day.

The targets included Hezbollah operatives, command centers, and several rocket launchers used in attacks on Israel, according to the military.

The IDF says it remains “on high alert and will act in accordance with the directives of the political echelon.”

צה"ל תקף ביממה האחרונה יותר מ-380 מטרות של ארגון הטרור חיזבאללה בדרום לבנון: הותקפו משגרים, מפקדות ומחבלים מארגון הטרור חיזבאללה צה"ל תקף ביממה האחרונה יותר מ-380 תשתיות של ארגון הטרור חיזבאללה במטרה לסייע לפעילות הכוחות הקרקעיים הפועלים בדרום לבנון. בין התשתיות שהותקפו:… pic.twitter.com/HthIWy4kHE — צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) April 16, 2026

צה"ל תקף ביממה האחרונה יותר מ-380 מטרות של ארגון הטרור חיזבאללה בדרום לבנון: הותקפו משגרים, מפקדות ומחבלים מארגון הטרור חיזבאללה

צה"ל תקף ביממה האחרונה יותר מ-380 תשתיות של ארגון הטרור חיזבאללה במטרה לסייע לפעילות הכוחות הקרקעיים הפועלים בדרום לבנון.

בין התשתיות שהותקפו:… pic.twitter.com/HthIWy4kHE

— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) April 16, 2026

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