Trump announces a three-week extension of the truce in Lebanon
l’Opinion (with AFP)
Washington – Donald Trump announced Thursday a three-week extension of the ceasefire in Lebanon, at a time when efforts to reach an agreement with Iran are at a standstill. “The ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon will be extended by THREE WEEKS,” wrote the American president on his Truth Social platform following a new meeting between representatives of the two countries in Washington. In effect since April 17, the ceasefire, which was initially supposed to end on Sunday, has provided some respite to the Lebanese population in a conflict that has already claimed over 2,400 lives and displaced one million people in the country since early March. Donald Trump assured that the United States “will collaborate with Lebanon to help it protect itself against Hezbollah.” The Shiite organization, which dragged the country into war on March 2 in support of its Iranian ally, has rejected these talks and continues its operations in southern Lebanon, where Israel intends to create a buffer zone at the cost of destroying villages and bombings, which killed two Lebanese journalists on Wednesday. Hezbollah announced that it fired rockets at northern Israel in response to the “violations” of the ceasefire by the Israeli army. Despite everything, Mr. Trump said he expects Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Lebanese President Joseph Aoun to meet “in the weeks to come.” The Lebanese president, who has so far dismissed the prospect of such a meeting, is expected to attend a European summit in Ayia Napa, Cyprus, on Friday alongside his Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah al-Sissi and Syrian counterpart Ahmed al-Chareh, as well as Jordan’s Crown Prince Hussein ben Abdallah. The Twenty-Seven have indicated that they intend to discuss “the situation in Lebanon and the talks between Israel and Lebanon” and maintain an “intensive dialogue” with the region’s countries. Nearly two months after it began on February 28 by Israel and the United States, the war against Iran continues to weigh on energy markets and the global economy, despite a ceasefire coming into effect on April 8. Traffic is at a standstill in the Strait of Hormuz, through which before the conflict 20% of global oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG) passed, now subject to both Iranian and American blockades. On Friday morning, oil prices rose again in Asia, with WTI above $97 and Brent from the North Sea nearly $107. Donald Trump assured that time is running out for Tehran as its oil exports dwindle. “I have all the time in the world, but that is not the case for Iran,” he wrote on Truth Social on Thursday. Third aircraft carrier Washington maintains military pressure with the arrival of a third aircraft carrier, the George HW Bush, in the region. Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said he is only waiting for the green light from the United States to resume strikes. However, Donald Trump assured that he has no intention of using nuclear weapons against Iran, which he had threatened at the beginning of April to “wipe out” civilization. “Why would I use nuclear weapons when we have completely destroyed them in a very conventional manner?” he declared in response to a journalist’s question at the White House. A first round of Iranian-American discussions in Pakistan on April 11 ended in failure. Mr. Trump cited “divisions” within the power structure in Tehran to explain the indefinite postponement of a second round that was scheduled for this week. In response, Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and Judiciary Chief Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei gave a pledge of unity on Thursday, speaking on their social networks of “one God, one nation, one leader, one path.” While the new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei has not appeared publicly since succeeding his father Ali Khamenei — who was killed in the early hours of the war — the New York Times reported Thursday, citing Iranian officials speaking anonymously, that he had been “seriously injured”, especially in the face, but remained “sharp of mind and active.” AFP bureaus in Washington, Beirut, Jerusalem, and Tehran © Agence France-Presse
