Pressure intensified on Thursday to broaden the ceasefire between the United States and Iran to include Israel’s conflict with Hezbollah, following a devastating wave of Israeli airstrikes on Lebanon that killed more than 200 people.
US President Donald Trump declared a diplomatic win in the Middle East after brokering a 14-day truce aimed at opening the door for talks to end a war that has claimed thousands of lives and disrupted the global economy.
However, the stability of the proposed talks remained uncertain on Thursday. Iran condemned Israel’s continued bombardment of Lebanon, while Tehran’s envoy to Pakistan withdrew a social media post suggesting that an Iranian delegation would travel to Islamabad, the planned venue for the mediation.
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"We are continuing to strike Hezbollah with force, precision, and determination," Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a social media post.
"Our message is clear: anyone who acts against Israeli civilians, we will strike them. We will continue to hit Hezbollah wherever necessary."
A representative at the Iranian mission in Islamabad told AFP that Ambassador Reza Amiri Moghadam's post was removed "because of some issues" and declined to confirm whether the diplomatic team was still expected to arrive.
No fewer than 203 people were killed and 1,000 injured during Israeli operations on Wednesday, according to the Lebanese health department.
There were previously muddled diplomatic indications regarding whether the hostilities in Lebanon fell under the US-Iran agreement — but Washington clarified that it did not, and Israel signalled clearly that it has no plans to halt its military actions.
Nevertheless, amidst anxieties that the precarious truce might collapse in the Gulf, global voices are demanding that the cessation of hostilities extend to Lebanon.
"Israeli actions are putting the US-Iran ceasefire under severe strain. The Iran truce should extend to Lebanon," the European Union's top diplomat, Kaja Kallas, said.
France's foreign minister, Jean-Noel Barrot, denounced the strikes as "unacceptable," while his UK counterpart, Yvette Cooper, appealed for the ceasefire framework to encompass Lebanon.
Hezbollah stated it launched projectiles toward Israel as a reaction to what it characterised as a breach of the standing truce.
The Lebanese prime minister's office said Thursday would be “a national day of mourning for the martyrs and wounded of the Israeli attacks that targeted hundreds of innocent, defenceless civilians”.
US Vice President JD Vance supported Israel's stance that Lebanon was omitted from the deal, shortly before he was scheduled to head negotiations with Tehran in Pakistan.
Iran's parliamentary speaker, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, seemed to jeopardise the ceasefire, writing on X that the "workable basis on which to negotiate" had already been breached, rendering additional discussions "unreasonable."