MANY questions remain about which way the negotiations between the US and Iran to find a permanent end to the hostilities can go.

Amongst the biggest unknowns is Lebanon; on the day the two-week truce between Washington and Tehran, brokered by Pakistan, was announced, Israel launched a barbaric assault on Lebanon, causing a high number of casualties and massive damage to infrastructure. Over 200 people were reported to have been killed during Wednesday’s atrocious attacks by Israel, while hostilities continued yesterday.

Israel is understandably furious that its joint effort with the US to destroy Iran has ended in failure; Israeli media is full of criticism of the regime for failing to achieve its goals in this brutal war. Now it seems that Tel Aviv has decided to direct its rage at the Lebanese people in the name of going after Iran’s ally Hezbollah. There has been deliberate targeting of civilians — a war crime — in the country under the so-called Dahieh Doctrine. But Israel is no stranger to carrying out such attacks, having engaged in them across the Middle East for decades.

There also appears to be ‘confusion’ regarding Lebanon’s inclusion in the 10 points forwarded by Iran as a basis for the negotiations. The Iranians insist Lebanon is an “inseparable part” of the ceasefire, while Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif also asserted that the Arab state was included. However, the Americans seem to be having second thoughts, as President Donald Trump has said Lebanon is a “separate skirmish”. Regardless, it is essential to ensure that the Lebanese front is part of the truce for both humanitarian reasons and to save the larger peace process between Iran and the US, which could collapse if Israel continues its butchery. The UN, as well as many of America’s allies, including the UK, France, Japan and others, have endorsed the call for a ceasefire in Lebanon.

It was Israel — which reportedly fed faulty intelligence to Mr Trump about how Iran could be easily defeated — that convinced the US to go to war with the Islamic Republic. Now it appears that Tel Aviv is using every trick in the book to ensure that the nascent peace process fails, and hostilities in the Middle East resume. Mr Trump must decide whether he wants to indeed put ‘America first’, or to do Israel’s bidding, even if the region is set alight in the process. The US has considerable leverage over its proxy Israel; the time to use it is now. Washington must impress on Tel Aviv to immediately halt all hostilities in Lebanon. Hezbollah is just an excuse. The Zionist state has long coveted Lebanon in pursuit of its ‘Greater Israel’ scheme. It must be stopped from continuing its attacks in Lebanon and its wholesale slaughter of innocent civilians there.

Published in Dawn, April 10th, 2026