Trump Presses Hezbollah-Israel Ceasefire; Israel Defies
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- Trump declared Thursday he expects "a complete ceasefire on all fronts, including Lebanon, Hezbollah and Israel," shortly after signing a deal with Iran declaring the permanent end of military operations in Lebanon.
- Israel rebuffed private US calls to withdraw its troops from southern Lebanon, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterating on Thursday that Israel is not bound by the US-Iran memorandum of understanding.
- Iran claims the IDF's continued presence in Lebanon violates the memorandum of understanding between Washington and Tehran, creating a direct collision with Israel's stated position.
- The Trump administration has privately criticized Israeli attacks against Hezbollah as indiscriminate while publicly affirming Israel's right to respond to attacks by the Iran-backed group.
- In private the US has called for an Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon — a request Israel has refused, exposing a split between Washington's diplomatic posture and its ally's ground operations.
Why it matters: Trump's public push for a ceasefire runs directly into Netanyahu's stated refusal to honor the US-Iran MOU or pull IDF troops from southern Lebanon, meaning the Iran deal's terms on Lebanon are unenforceable without US pressure on its own ally. The gap between Washington's private demands and Israel's open defiance puts the credibility of the broader Iran agreement at stake.
