On Tuesday, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said that Islamabad was making progress in mediating a ceasefire between Washington and Tehran. The White House approved Sharif’s statement before it was posted, and it explained the truce would cover all warring parties.
The New York Times reported on Thursday that Washington reviewed and approved Sharif’s statement before it was posted to X. The post explained, “We also urge all warring parties to observe a ceasefire everywhere for two weeks to allow diplomacy to achieve conclusive termination of war.”
The extent of the truce has been debated between Washington, Tel Aviv, and Tehran since it was announced by President Donald Trump. The White House insists that Iran is lying when they assert that the ceasefire deal requires that Israel halt its military operations in Lebanon.
Tel Aviv has announced plans to ethnically cleanse and seize southern Lebanon. Just hours after Trump posted on Truth Social that a truce with Iran was reached, Israel conducted over 100 air strikes in Lebanon, killing over 250 people.
Tehran has said that if the attacks on Lebanon continue, it will refuse to engage in future talks with the US and resume its attacks.
Fighting between Hezbollah in Lebanon and Israel initially broke out after the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023. In November 2024, Hezbollah and Tel Aviv agreed to a ceasefire. While Hezbollah halted attacks on Israel, the IDF continued to bomb and maintain military outposts in southern Lebanon.
Hezbollah resumed missile and rocket fire at Israel after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Trump ordered a surprise attack on Iran.
