TEHRAN/BEIRUT – Just hours after Pakistan successfully brokered a two-week ceasefire between the United States and Iran, the fragile truce was already under strain as Israel launched its heaviest strikes on Lebanon since the conflict erupted last month. The attacks targeted Hezbollah positions in Beirut and surrounding regions, resulting in the deadliest day for Lebanon in the current hostilities.
According to Lebanese civil defence, at least 254 people were killed and hundreds more wounded in the Israeli strikes. Reports said Israel struck over 100 sites “within 10 minutes” in Lebanon after the US-Iran ceasefire was announced in the early hours of Wednesday. The Israeli army said it targeted multiple areas in Beirut, Beqaa, and southern Lebanon.
Scenes of Destruction
Local residents and witnesses described towering columns of smoke over the capital and buildings crumbling under precision airstrikes, with some strikes reportedly occurring without prior civilian warnings. Israeli airstrikes also killed four people, including a journalist, in Gaza.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Iran is weaker than ever and Israel is stronger than ever, adding that Israel still has goals to accomplish. “This is not the end of the campaign,” he declared.
Iran’s Warning
Iran immediately condemned Israel’s actions, linking the assaults on Hezbollah to threats against its own security. The Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) warned that continued attacks would prompt “a heavy retaliation against the Israeli regime.”
While halting oil tanker traffic in the Strait of Hormuz — a critical global chokepoint and a key US condition in the ceasefire — Iran signalled its readiness for a direct response if hostilities persist. “An attack on Hezbollah is an attack on Iran,” Brigadier General Majid Mousavi said.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Responds
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, who is expected to travel to Pakistan for talks with the US in Islamabad over the weekend, underscored that the ceasefire’s terms were “clear and explicit,” urging the United States to act to prevent further violations.
“The U.S. must choose — ceasefire or continued war via Israel. It cannot have both. The world sees the massacres in Lebanon. The ball is in the U.S. court, and the world is watching whether it will act on its commitments,” he wrote on X.
US Position
Contrasting sharply with Iran’s position, US officials insisted that Lebanon was not part of the temporary ceasefire. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt reiterated that the US-Iran truce did not apply to Israeli operations in Lebanon.
Domestic Reactions in Iran
In Iran, domestic reactions were fierce. State media and social platforms carried urgent warnings that the ceasefire could collapse unless Israeli strikes ceased immediately. IRGC statements accused Washington of tacitly supporting its ally’s violations.
Meanwhile, air defences in Iran were activated in cities including Tehran, Kerman, and Isfahan, responding to unknown drone incursions. Iran, which had allowed ships to pass through the strait, closed it again.
Conditional Opening of Hormuz
Iran’s Supreme National Security Council and state media confirmed that only limited and conditional openings of the Strait of Hormuz had occurred, with vessels requiring explicit Iranian permission to transit. Shipping sources reported Greek and Chinese vessels navigating the strait.
Within hours of the ceasefire agreement, the IRGC said Tehran was preparing a heavy retaliation. “In response to Israel’s violation of the ceasefire in Lebanon, Iran is preparing a heavy retaliation against the Israeli regime,” the IRGC said.
Threat to Withdraw from Ceasefire
Iran’s Tasnim news agency reported that Tehran could withdraw from the US ceasefire agreement if Israel continued to violate it by attacking Lebanon. Iranian diplomats said Foreign Minister Araghchi raised this issue in a phone call to Pakistan’s army chief.
Gulf States Express Concern
The Gulf states, while generally supportive of peace efforts, expressed concern over Iran’s post-ceasefire actions. The UAE Foreign Ministry highlighted that it had exerted “intensive diplomatic efforts to prevent the war,” emphasising that the country was not directly involved.
A spokesperson stressed that any response to Iranian threats must be “comprehensive and complete, including nuclear and military capabilities and its proxies in the region,” underscoring regional anxieties over a wider escalation despite the temporary US-Iran truce.
Analysis: A Fragile Truce
The Israeli strikes on Lebanon, coming just hours after the US-Iran ceasefire was announced, have placed the fragile truce under immense strain. Iran’s warning that it could withdraw from the agreement if Israel continues its attacks raises the prospect of a complete collapse of the ceasefire.
The US position — that the truce does not apply to Israeli operations in Lebanon — has created a dangerous loophole. Iran has made clear that it views an attack on Hezbollah as an attack on Iran itself, and its threat of “heavy retaliation” should be taken seriously.
For Pakistan, which brokered the ceasefire, the situation is a diplomatic nightmare. The truce was meant to be the first step toward a permanent end to the war. Instead, within hours of its announcement, the conflict has expanded to Lebanon with renewed intensity.
As Araghchi prepares to travel to Islamabad for talks with US officials, the question is whether the ceasefire can be salvaged. Iran’s foreign minister has made clear that the ball is in the US court. The world is watching to see whether Washington will act to prevent further violations — or whether the truce will collapse, plunging the region back into full-scale war.
