Trump announces three-week extension of truce in Lebanon
l’Opinion (with AFP)
Washington – Donald Trump announced on 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,” the American president wrote 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 set to end on Sunday, has provided some respite to the Lebanese population in a conflict that has already resulted in more than 2,400 deaths and one million displaced people in the country since the beginning of March. Donald Trump assured that the United States “will collaborate with Lebanon to help protect it 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, in turn, announced that it fired rockets at northern Israel in response to the “violations” of the ceasefire by the Israeli army. “All the time in the world” Nevertheless, Mr. Trump said he expects Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Lebanese President Michel Aoun to meet “in the coming weeks.” The Lebanese leader, 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 counterparts Egyptian Abdel Fattah al-Sissi and Syrian Ahmed al-Chareh, as well as Jordan’s Crown Prince Hussein ben Abdallah. The Twenty-Seven have stated that they intend to discuss “the situation in Lebanon and the talks between Israel and Lebanon” and maintain an “intensive dialogue” with the states in the region. Nearly two months after its outbreak 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 taking effect on April 8. Traffic has come to a halt in the Strait of Hormuz, through which before the conflict, 20% of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG) transited, now subject to a dual Iranian and American blockade. On Friday morning, oil prices rose again in Asia, with WTI at over $97 and North Sea Brent at nearly $107. Donald Trump assured that time was running against Tehran as its oil exports diminish. “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 in the region, the George HW Bush. Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said he was only awaiting 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, whom he had threatened at the beginning of April to “wipe out” civilization. “Why would I use nuclear weapons when we have completely defeated them in a very conventional manner?” he said in response to a question from a journalist 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 President Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and Judiciary Chief Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei on Thursday gave a pledge of unity, referring on their social networks to “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 on condition of anonymity, that he was “seriously injured,” particularly in the face, but remains “vigorous and active.” AFP bureaus in Washington, Beirut, Jerusalem, and Tehran © Agence France-Presse
