Israel Lebanon ceasefire extended by three weeks
Trump claims White House deal without Hezbollah participation, mine fears in Hormuz shadow the truce
Images
Iran's Revolutionary Guards released footage on Thursday that appears to show naval forces boarding a container ship. Photograph: IRIB TV/AFP/Getty Images
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Footage purportedly shows Iranian forces seize two vessels in the strait of Hormuz - video
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The Greek-owned Epaminondas has reportedly been detained by Iranian commandos. Photograph: IRIB TV/AFP/Getty Images
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A satellite image shows a fleet of small boats north of the strait of Hormuz near Iran’s Kargan coast on Wednesday. Photograph: European Union/COPERNICUS SENTINEL-2/Reuters
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A ballistic missile is displayed by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards during a pro-government demonstration at Enqelab Square in downtown Tehran. Photograph: Alireza Masoumi/AP
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independent.co.uk
Trump announces Israel Lebanon ceasefire extension, White House diplomacy continues while Hezbollah remains outside talks, shooting orders and mining fears undercut truce
Donald Trump said on Thursday that Israel and Lebanon had agreed to extend their ceasefire by three weeks, after a White House meeting with “very high officials” from both countries. The announcement comes as the wider US-Iran confrontation around the Strait of Hormuz continues to spill into the region’s other fronts, with Washington issuing fresh threats over suspected Iranian mining activity even while describing its campaign against Iran as “conventional” and decisive.
According to The Independent, Trump told reporters he would not use nuclear weapons against Iran, calling the question “stupid,” and claimed the United States had “decimated” Iranian capabilities without them. In the same appearance he said Tehran may have “loaded up” during the pause in fighting but that the US could “knock that out in about one day.” Separately, he ordered the US Navy to “shoot and kill any boat” that is dropping mines in the Strait of Hormuz, and said American minesweepers were clearing the waterway at a “tripled up level.”
The ceasefire extension is being presented as a bilateral understanding between states, but the main armed actor on one side is not at the table. Hezbollah has not been a participant in the Washington talks, and fighting has continued during the earlier truce, The Guardian reports, including an Israeli strike on Wednesday that killed Lebanese journalist Amal Khalil while she was covering southern Lebanon.
The timing also highlights a practical constraint on diplomacy: shipping and energy markets are reacting to actions at sea, not to statements in Washington. The Independent reported oil prices rising again on fears of renewed escalation after Iran released footage of commandos boarding a cargo ship in the Strait of Hormuz, with Brent crude trading above $106 a barrel.
Trump has framed the Iran track as stalled by fragmentation in Tehran. The Guardian cited him saying Iran’s leadership was “hobbled by infighting” and that it was unclear who was in charge, while the ceasefire extension on the Lebanon front is being marketed as proof that pressure and personal diplomacy can still produce agreements. The gap between those two claims is now being measured in insurance premiums, rerouted cargoes, and the cost of keeping a narrow waterway safe from mines.
The ceasefire is set to run for three more weeks. The mines, if they are there, will not follow the same timetable.