Netanyahu says there is no ceasefire in Lebanon as Israel launches fresh strikes | US-Israel war on Iran

Benjamin Netanyahu said there was “no ceasefire in Lebanon” and that Israel would continue to “hit Hezbollah with all its might” as the country’s army launched new attacks.

The Israeli prime minister’s remarks and the latest attacks on what the IDF calls “Hezbollah launch sites” came shortly after Donald Trump said he wanted Netanyahu to be more “low-key” in Lebanon.

Netanyahu said that despite the latest bombardment, he instructed his government to “start direct negotiations with Lebanon as soon as possible.” He said talks should focus on disarmament of Hezbollah and establishing “peace relations” with Lebanon.

The Lebanese government has said a ceasefire must be reached before any negotiations can begin.

More than 300 people were killed in Israeli bombardment within 24 hours of the ceasefire declaration in the Iran war on Tuesday night. The bombardment, ostensibly aimed at Hezbollah targets, included attacks with heavy munitions on densely populated areas and sparked outrage from the International Committee of the Red Cross and other international humanitarian organizations.

The violent attack on Lebanon threatened to derail hopes for a negotiated end to the war in Iran, which began with a US-Israeli attack on February 28. Despite US President Donald Trump’s claims that the Pakistan-brokered ceasefire was making significant progress towards bringing lasting peace to the Middle East, the ceasefire appeared to be in danger of collapsing on its first day.

In response to Israeli attacks after the ceasefire, Iran warned that it would once again close the Strait of Hormuz, the economically critical waterway it had agreed to open during the two-week ceasefire. The country’s president, Masoud Pezeshkian, has thrown US-Iran talks scheduled for Saturday in Pakistan into doubt, saying talks are “pointless” as long as Israel continues to bomb Lebanon. Pezeshkian promised that Iran will not abandon the Lebanese people.

According to Iranian deputy foreign minister Saeed Khatibzadeh, Iran was prevented from responding forcefully to Israel’s escalation of tensions in Lebanon because Pakistan called for restraint in the interests of a broader peace agreement. Pakistani prime minister Shehbaz Sharif condemned Israel’s “continued aggression against Lebanon.”

Netanyahu insisted Lebanon was not included in the ceasefire agreed by Donald Trump on Tuesday night and vowed that the Israeli military would continue to hit Hezbollah targets “when necessary.” The Israeli prime minister said his forces killed the secretary of Hezbollah leader Naim Qasim.

Trump himself backed Netanyahu’s version, telling public broadcaster PBS that Lebanon was “not included in the agreement” because of Hezbollah’s role. He described the conflict in Lebanon as a “separate conflict” from the Iran war, adding: “That, too, will be dealt with. No problem.”

CNN reported that Netanyahu’s announcement of peace talks with Lebanon came at the urging of the US president, who is eager to save the US from a war in which he was persuaded by Netanyahu to join; according to various accounts of the course of the conflict.

US vice president JD Vance, who was tasked with leading the US delegation to peace talks in Pakistan, suggested there was a “legitimate misunderstanding” about the geographical scope of the ceasefire agreement.

Pakistan, which stepped up mediation efforts after Trump threatened an attack that would end civilization, said Lebanon was part of the agreement.

Former American envoy Robert Malley, who led previous US-Iran talks, said: “I trust the Pakistani mediator that Lebanon was involved. They made a statement that it was involved, and for hours we didn’t hear any Americans correct the Pakistani version.”

“This looks like the United States stepping back and surrendering to the Israeli prime minister.” [permission] to continue [with bombing] “There is another 24 hours for them to be ‘contained’.”

Malley said the best-case scenario for peace talks in Pakistan is for the region to return to the status quo before the U.S.-Israeli attacks began on Feb. 28, with the Strait of Hormuz opened and options to limit Iran’s nuclear program along with some form of financial compensation to Tehran on the table.

Authorities in Islamabad have implemented tight security measures in anticipation of the arrival of delegations for the talks, which are expected to begin on Saturday.

With the future of the ceasefire in jeopardy, Trump issued his latest ultimatum on social media, promising a return to US strikes (“The Fire Begins,” as he called it) if Iran did not comply with the “real deal.” He made clear that Tehran should fully open the Strait of Hormuz to international shipping and “should not have nuclear weapons.” He did not mention Lebanon.

US allies have insisted that the ceasefire must be comprehensive. In the joint statement made by the United Kingdom, EU countries, Canada and Japan, a call was made to “all parties, including Lebanon, to implement a ceasefire” in which Israel is trying to destroy the Iran-backed Hezbollah movement.

EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said on Thursday: “Hezbollah dragged Lebanon into war, but Israel’s right to defend itself does not justify causing such massive destruction. Israel’s attacks last night killed hundreds of people, making it difficult to argue that such harsh actions fall within the scope of self-defence.”

French foreign minister Jean-Noël Barrot condemned the Israeli attacks as “unacceptable”, and his British counterpart Yvette Cooper called them “deeply damaging”, adding that not including Lebanon in the ceasefire would “destabilize the entire region”.

A Downing Street spokesman said Keir Starmer spoke to Trump on Thursday about the “next stage of finding a solution” to reopening the Strait of Hormuz.

“The Prime Minister has opened discussions with Gulf leaders and military planners in the region on the need to restore freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz, as well as the UK’s efforts to bring partners together to agree a workable plan.

“They agreed that now there is a ceasefire and an agreement has been reached to open the strait and that we are in the next stage of finding a solution.”

Diplomatic efforts worldwide have focused on reopening the Strait of Hormuz, the gateway to one-fifth of global flows of oil and liquefied natural gas. Only 11 ships (four Iranian, four Greek, one Chinese, one Omani and one unknown) were allowed to pass through the strait within 24 hours of the ceasefire; this was less than a tenth of the pre-war ship flow.

Approximately 1,400 ships are anchored in the Gulf; It is trapped first by war and then by the uncertainty that accompanies an uncertain and shaky ceasefire. After the initial decline in the global oil price following the announcement of the ceasefire, it began to rise again towards $100 per barrel on Thursday.