Trump announces a 10-day ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon
The truce is fragile because it has not been directly negotiated with Hezbollah and Israel has not yet publicly confirmed the agreement
WashingtonDonald Trump has announced that Israel and Lebanon have reached an agreement to implement a 10-day ceasefire that will take effect starting at 5 p.m. Washington time this Thursday. In a post on Truth Social, the Republican claims to have spoken with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and his Israeli counterpart, Benjamin Netanyahu. "The two leaders have agreed to a ceasefire with the goal of achieving peace." Amidst last-minute diplomatic efforts to secure a new round of peace talks between the U.S. and Iran, the Iranians had requested a cessation of hostilities in Lebanon as a gesture of good faith. Originally, the agreement, mediated by Pakistan, explicitly included an end to Israeli attacks in the Arab country.
advance the Zionist agenda of "Greater Israel"Trump, however, assures that he has already given instructions for his officials to coordinate with the two countries. "I have instructed Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Rubio, along with the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Dan Caine, to work with Israel and Lebanon to achieve lasting PEACE. It has been an honor for me to resolve 9 wars around the world, and this will be my tenth, so let's get this done!", he says in the post. The president does not account for the conflicts he has caused or the countries he has bombed since he returned to the White House. In a year and a half of his term, eight countries—including Iran—have been the target of U.S. airstrikes.
Netanyahu has been bombing the Arab country under the pretext that it is time to annihilate this regional ally of Iran in the region. The military offensive has already killed at least 2,089 people, including 165 children and 87 healthcare workers, and has displaced more than 1.2 million Lebanese. The Israeli prime minister is implementing the same scorched-earth policy to thus advance the Zionist agenda of "Greater Israel".
Although Lebanon was part of the truce between the US and Iran, Netanyahu is rushing to readjust it according to his interests. In the initial hours, the Israeli prime minister said he welcomed it and would stop attacks against Iranian territory, but would maintain his campaign in Lebanon. Bibi's statements represented another episode in the divergence of interests with Washington since the Iran serial began. Shortly after, the Republican came out to amend his ally and assured that Lebanon was not included in the agreement and was a separate conflict. Israel began to attack Lebanon shortly after bombing Iran along with the US on February 28.
The announcement comes after the United States hosted a historic face-to-face meeting at the State Department on Tuesday. For the first time since 1983, an Israeli and a Lebanese delegation met in person to address the situation. Secretary of State Marco Rubio mediated between Israel's ambassador to the US, Yechiel Leiter, and his Lebanese counterpart, Nada Hamadeh Moawad.
Netanyahu's stubbornness in pursuing his objectives in the region put the truce at risk from its inception, although Trump and the Iranians have also quickly found their own way to make it falter. The toll that the ayatollahs wanted to impose in Hormuz, and the subsequent US blockade in the strait have further strained the atmosphere. But, paradoxically, both the Trump administration and Pakistan are optimistic about the possibility of reaching an agreement before the ceasefire expires next Tuesday.
White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said that for now they had not "formally" asked to extend the truce and that they were optimistic about the possibility of closing a deal for the new round of talks. Pakistani diplomatic sources explain to Al Jazeera that they expect an "important breakthrough" on their trip to Tehran. Yesterday, a Pakistani delegation led by Marshal Asim Munir arrived in Iran to negotiate with the ayatollahs and deliver a message from Washington. However, despite renewed hopes, the truth is that there is still no date for a new peace negotiation between the Americans and the Iranians.
