Lebanon seeks clarity on ceasefire ‘mixed signals’ as strikes continue
Smoke rises following an Israeli attack on the southern suburbs of Beirut, Lebanon, March 9, 2026, as tensions between Hezbollah and Israel escalate during the US-Israeli conflict with Iran.
Muhammad Azakir | Reuters
Lebanon’s economy minister told CNBC that he wanted urgent clarity on whether Lebanon was part of the ceasefire that paused the Iran war, adding that he was receiving “mixed signals.”
Israel, which has hit Iranian ally Hezbollah targets in Lebanon, said the two-week ceasefire did not apply to the country and issued an evacuation order for the southern city of Tire ahead of possible attacks on Wednesday.
“We are getting mixed signals or mixed reports,” Lebanese economy minister Amer Bisat told CNBC on Wednesday.
“Some argue that Lebanon is part of the ceasefire, others, including Israel, argue that it is not,” he told CNBC’s Dan Murphy. “That’s something we’ll have to confirm in the next few hours. Frankly, our hope, our demand, was always for an end to hostilities.”
Lebanon’s status on the ceasefire appears uncertain after the deal was announced late Tuesday.
Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, who mediated the agreement, Announced on social media platform X Overnight, the United States, Iran and their regional allies “agreed to an immediate ceasefire everywhere, including Lebanon and elsewhere.”
But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office denied that statement, with a post on X early Wednesday claiming that “the two-week ceasefire does not include Lebanon.”
‘Devastating’ defeat
Lebanon and its capital Beirut have been the target of Israeli-led attacks against Iran’s proxy Hezbollah for the past five weeks. Israeli ground forces occupied the south of the country as part of a parallel operation against Tehran.
Hezbollah reportedly stopped firing on northern Israel and Israeli troops in Lebanon early on Wednesday. The group is expected to make an official statement on the ceasefire in due course, according to Reuters. French President Emmanuel Macron also joined the calls for Lebanon to be included in the ceasefire agreement.
United Nations says More than 1.1 million people were displaced In Lebanon, he is trying to escape Israeli attacks that have killed more than 1,200 people in the country.
Minister Bisat told CNBC that Beirut felt like it was “forced into this war by parties beyond its control” and that “while the outcome of this war is obviously extremely positive… Our hope is that at some point in the near future Lebanon will be a part of it.”
Smoke rises from Israeli air strikes on the southern suburbs of Beirut on March 3, 2026.
Ibrahim Amro | Afp | Getty Images
The economy minister said the conflict was a “major setback” for Lebanon and its already struggling economy and that his country was paying “a devastating price for this war”.
Bisat estimated that the five-week war cost Lebanon “about 5-7% of GDP in this very short period of time,” adding, “We started to see some recovery, some revival in 2025. But then it was a huge downturn. The downturn happened on both levels. On a human level, 1.2 million people were displaced in a country of five million people… but at the same time the country’s GDP also took an economic hit.” he said.
“The entire recovery we saw last year disappeared in less than a month,” he added.
Is it a stable agreement?
But questions remain about whether the ceasefire can hold, as Israel and many Gulf countries reported the arrival of missiles and drones on Wednesday.
Iran’s foreign minister is he said in a statement “If attacks against Iran are stopped, our Mighty Armed Forces will stop defensive operations,” he posted on X earlier Wednesday.
Tehran added that safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz “will be possible by taking into account coordination with the Iranian Armed Forces and technical limitations” and signaled that there may be some warnings in the agreement.
