By Jana Choukeir and Laila Bassam DUBAI/BEIRUT, June 4 (Reuters) - The Iran-backed Hezbollah militia rejected a new ceasefire in Lebanon on Thursday and Israel said it would not withdraw troops from the country,

The Israeli and Lebanese governments have agreed to implement a ceasefire, after weeks of deadly fighting between Israel and Hezbollah had imperiled broader negotiations between the U.S. and Iran to end their conflict.

The ongoing fighting in Lebanon, where Israeli forces have seized large swaths of the south, threatens efforts to end the Iran war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

The renewed cease-fire in Lebanon appeared to be holding on Thursday morning, after Israel and Lebanon announced a U.S.-facilitated agreement to extend it. The agreement could help clear an obstacle to ending the war in Iran.

Iran says there's been no progress in talks with the U.S. after tit-for-tat strikes, as Hezbollah rejects new Israel-Lebanon ceasefire.

See more Toronto Sun on Google — save as a Preferred Source

Israel and Lebanon agreed Wednesday to renew their fragile ceasefire and create a number of "pilot" security zones inside Lebanon where Hezbollah would be banned.

The countries reject "any attempt, by any state or non-state actor, to hold Lebanon's future hostage", the US says.

The U.N. peacekeeping mission for Lebanon, known as UNIFIL, said one peacekeeper was killed and others were wounded when they came under mortar fire in southeastern Lebanon.

The agreement depends on the cooperation of Hezbollah, the Iran-backed militia. The cease-fire could remove an obstacle in the talks between the United States and Iran.

President Donald Trump acknowledged criticizing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as “crazy” in a phone call that involved expletives, saying he was “a little bit perturbed” that Israel’s fighting with Hezbollah militants in

Trumps says Israel and Hezbollah will stop fighting after Iran stops talks with U.S. over Israeli operations in southern Lebanon, Gaza