On the 20th local time, the Israel Defense Forces said it had received political-level instructions to implement a ceasefire but would continue operations inside a southern Lebanon "security zone", focusing on a large Hezbollah tunnel complex sheltering dozens of fighters. The IDF said it has stopped firing elsewhere in Lebanon and will keep destroying Hezbollah military infrastructure within the "security zone" and strike "urgent threats" outside it.

The Wall Street Journal reports the US and Qatar are drafting a plan to let Iran access part of roughly $100bn in frozen cash, starting with a $6bn tranche held by Qatar for humanitarian purchases. The proposal, not final, would allow Iran’s central bank to use extracted frozen assets—chiefly oil-export proceeds held abroad—to buy food, medicine and other humanitarian goods; the mechanism could be a template for other frozen cash pools and could serve as the first disbursement toward about $24bn Tehran is seeking to unfreeze under a recently signed end-of-war agreement.

State news agency reported the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said its armed forces are on high alert, prepared to repel any potential enemy incursions or violations of agreements and to defend Iran's national security.