Israel Strikes Lebanon as Ceasefire Talks Begin Amid US-Iran Truce Dispute

As the United States and Iran prepare to sit down for high-stakes negotiations this weekend in Pakistan, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has made clear his government has no intention of honoring the spirit of the fragile truce, ordering a ferocious escalation in Lebanon that has killed more than 300 people in a single day and risks torching the entire diplomatic process. The timing could hardly be more provocative. Hours after President Donald Trump announced a two-week ceasefire with Iran on Tuesday night, brokered by Pakistan, Israeli warplanes unleashed their heaviest bombardment of Lebanon in the current conflict, striking residential neighborhoods, destroying homes, and hitting civilian areas without the warnings that have sometimes preceded previous assaults.

The death toll from Wednesday’s onslaught alone reached at least 300, with more than 1,150 injured according to Lebanese officials. Strikes continued into Friday, though at a reduced pace in the Beirut area, hitting towns like Hanawya, Aita al-Shaab, al-Majadel, and Haneen in the south. Hezbollah responded with rocket fire toward northern Israeli settlements including Kiryat Shmona, Metula, and Misgav Am, saying its attacks would continue until the “Israeli-American aggression” stopped. The Lebanese government is now grappling with not only a massive displacement crisis affecting more than a million people but a rapidly worsening food security emergency, according to the United Nations.

Trump’s announcement of the ceasefire followed one of the most unhinged weeks in recent American foreign policy. The president began by threatening Iran with what amounted to genocidal rhetoric, posting on social media that “a whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again” if Tehran did not comply with American demands to fully open the Strait of Hormuz. Then, shortly before his own deadline, Trump declared that Iran had provided a workable 10-point plan for negotiations toward a durable end to the war that began on February 28. Iran, for its part, agreed to allow safe passage through the critical waterway during the ceasefire period.

Vice President JD Vance is expected to lead the American side in this weekend’s talks. Iranian officials have made their red lines explicit: they are demanding a binding non-aggression commitment from Washington, meaningful sanctions relief, and ironclad guarantees for Iran’s sovereignty and independence. As Narges Bajoghli, a professor of Middle East Studies at Johns Hopkins University, told The Intercept, Tehran has been burned too many times by American promises to simply take Washington at its word. Sovereignty remains the biggest red line.

Yet Israel’s actions suggest it has other plans. Netanyahu addressed the Israeli public on Thursday, declaring bluntly that “there is no cease-fire in Lebanon” and that the military would “continue to strike Hezbollah with full force” until security was restored. At the same time, he said he had instructed his cabinet to begin direct negotiations with Lebanon “as soon as possible,” following what he described as repeated requests from Beirut. Israeli officials say the goal is the full disarmament of Hezbollah and a “historic, sustainable peace.” Lebanese leaders have countered that a ceasefire must come first before any talks can meaningfully proceed.

A U.S. State Department official later said Israel and Lebanon would hold talks in Washington next week, though neither government has publicly confirmed the arrangement. The disconnect is glaring. Iran has insisted that any agreement to end the war must encompass both its own territory and Lebanon, where Hezbollah opened a supporting front after the initial U.S.-Israeli assault on Iran. By continuing its campaign in Lebanon, Israel is not merely ignoring that demand. It is actively trying to kill the diplomatic opening before it can take root.

The human cost in Lebanon has been staggering. Since Israel widened its ground invasion into southern Lebanon following Hezbollah’s initial missile barrages in early March, at least 1,888 Lebanese have been killed. The current round of fighting follows a previous war in 2024 that ended with a U.S.-brokered deal that was supposed to lead to Hezbollah’s disarmament. That process has clearly collapsed. Hezbollah views its arsenal as essential to defending Lebanon against Israeli incursions, while Israel claims its operations target only militant infrastructure. The reality on the ground, documented by journalists and humanitarian organizations, shows repeated strikes on densely populated civilian areas, drawing sharp condemnation from the International Committee of the Red Cross.

Netanyahu’s government has long treated diplomacy as a secondary concern to its military objectives. His refusal to pause operations even as Trump himself reportedly asked Israel to be more “low-key” in Lebanon speaks volumes. So does Iran’s new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, who stated this week that the Islamic Republic does not seek war with the United States or Israel but will not renounce its legitimate rights, describing the entire “resistance front” as indivisible.

Whether Vance can deliver a breakthrough in Pakistan remains uncertain. What is already clear is that Israel’s bloody campaign in Lebanon is pouring fuel on the fragile embers of ceasefire. More than a month into a war that has already claimed thousands of lives across multiple fronts, the Israeli government appears determined to ensure that diplomacy cannot succeed on terms that might constrain its freedom of action. The coming days will reveal whether Washington is willing to rein in its ally or whether the ceasefire announced with such fanfare this week was never meant to apply to all the victims of this expanding conflict.