Emergency personnel on the site of an Israeli airstrike in Lebanon, April 8, 2026 (Bilal Hussein/AP)
EA-Times Radio VideoCast: Trump Camp’s Lack of Intelligence From Iran to Ukraine
US-Israel War on Iran, Day 40: Trump Backs Down With 2-Week Ceasefire
UPDATE 0820 GMT:
Commenting on Israel’s attacks on Lebanon, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez says of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, “His contempt for life and international law is intolerable.”
It’s time to speak clearly.
Lebanon must be included in the ceasefire. The international community must condemn this new violation of international law. The European Union must suspend its Association Agreement with Israel.
And there must be no impunity for these criminal acts.
UK Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said this morning:
We want to see Lebanon included in the ceasefire.
We want it extended to cover Lebanon, because otherwise that will destabilize the whole region.
That escalation that we saw from Israel yesterday was deeply damaging, and we want to see an end to hostilities.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said, “These attacks are all the more unacceptable as they undermine the temporary ceasefire reached yesterday between the United States and Iran….Lebanon must not be made the scapegoat by a disgruntled government.”
He added, “Iran must stop terrorizing Israel through Hezbollah, which must be disarmed immediately.”
UPDATE 0813 GMT:
In his latest threat, Donald Trump has retracted his initial acceptance of Iran’s terms for negotiation, warning that Tehran must fully comply with “the real agreement”.
“If for any reason it is not, which is highly unlikely, then the ‘Shootin’ Starts’, bigger, and better, and stronger than anyone has ever seen before,” he postured. “Our great Military is Loading Up and Resting, looking forward, actually, to its next Conquest.”
ORIGINAL ENTRY: The US-Iran temporary ceasefire wobbled on Wednesday, only hours after it was announced, as Israel killed 254 people in Lebanon and Washington and Tehran disputed the terms of their agreement.
Trying to expand the occupation of southern Lebanon, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insisted the 14-day ceasefire did not apply to Israel’s assault. Donald Trump supported the denial, even though Pakistan, the lead mediator, had confirmed that Lebanon is included.
Rejecting the announcement of the ceasefire, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz made clear that attacks would escalate, and the Israel Defense Forces followed with forced evacuation orders for the southern suburbs of Beirut as well as the south of the country.
Airstrikes and ground strikes followed, leading to the highest toll of killings since Israel launched its attacks on March 2. Another 837 people were injured.
Among the victims were an Al Jazeera correspondent, Mohammad Wishah, and two Lebanese journalists.
Israel also struck the last remaining bridge linking southern Lebanon to the rest of the country.
The bridge spanned the Litani River, about 30 km (20 miles) north of the border with Israel. The Israeli military has issued forced evacuation orders for all resident south of the Litani, and an Israeli military spokesperson boasted that the area is “disconnected from Lebanon”.
Hezbollah fired rockets at northern Israel early Thursday. One of its MPs, Ibrahim Moussawi, said, “If the Israeli enemy does not adhere to a ceasefire, then no party will commit to it, and there will be a response from the region, including Iran.”
UN: “Horrific” Attacks Which “Defy Belief”
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards issued a “firm warning” to the US and Israel: “If the aggression against beloved Lebanon does not cease immediately, we will fulfill our duty and deliver a response.”
Lebanon Prime Minister Nawaf Salam posted:
Whilst we welcomed the agreement between Iran and the United States, and stepped up our efforts to reach a ceasefire agreement in Lebanon, Israel continues to escalate its attacks, which have targeted densely populated residential neighborhoods and claimed the lives of unarmed civilians across Lebanon, particularly in the capital, Beirut.
[It is] showing no regard for regional and international efforts to end the war, let alone the principles of international law and international humanitarian law, which it has never respected in the first place.
UN human rights chief Volker Turk condemned the “horrific” attacks: “Such carnage, within hours of agreeing to a ceasefire with Iran, defies belief. It places enormous pressure on a fragile peace, which is so desperately needed by civilians.”
“The United Nations strongly condemns the strikes by Israel across Lebanon that resulted in significant civilian casualties,” says Farhan Haq, deputy spokesman for UN Secretary-General António Guterres. “We continue to call on all sides to avail themselves of diplomatic channels [and] cease hostilities.”
The Ceasefire Wobbles
Warning that the Israeli assault would undo the ceasefire, Iran said it would maintain its restrictions on shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.
Only 11 vessels passed through the Strait on Wednesday, around the same number as Tuesday.
Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf cited Israel’s bombing and a US demand that Iran should have no right to enrich uranium: “In such [a] situation, a bilateral ceasefire or negotiations is unreasonable.”
The White House stepped back from Donald Trump’s acceptance of Iran’s 10-point proposal as the basis for negotiations. It declared that the proposal differs from that transmitted by Pakistan to the US for the ceasefire.
Iran’s terms include its control of freedom of navigation for the Strait of Hormuz. It continues its civilian nuclear program, while pledging that it will not pursue a nuclear weapon. There is no mention of a limit on ballistic missiles, or on Iran’s ties with regional groups such as Hezbollah.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt insisted:
The Iranians originally put forward a 10-point plan that was fundamentally unserious, unacceptable and completely discarded. The idea that President Trump would ever accept an Iranian wishlist as a deal is completely absurd.
Trump tried to cover his initial acceptance of the Iranian terms by claiming that ceasefire is actually based on a 15-point US ultimatum transmitted to Tehran weeks ago. He maintained Iran cannot enrich uranium as it works with the US to unearth its stockpile of “nuclear dust”.
The Farsi version of Iran’s terms included an explicit acceptance of Iran’s right to enrich uranium. The English version did not.
Vice President J.D. Vance, a sceptic of the Trump war on Iran, cited a “legitimate misunderstanding” over the terms: “I think the Iranians thought that the ceasefire included Lebanon and it just didn’t. We never made that promise.”
Defying the reality on Wednesday, he declared that Israel had offered to “check themselves a little bit in Lebanon” to aid US neogtiations.
