US President Donald Trump on Thursday announced a 10-day ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon, as well as invited both Israeli and Lebanese leaders to come to the White House for “meaningful talks” aimed at reducing tensions that he described as having gone “too long” without direct involvement. The ceasefire between Tel Aviv and Beirut marks a temporary pause in hostilities after months of intense escalation.The breakthrough, spurred by high-level phone diplomacy, has briefly halted exchanges between Benjamin Netanyahu’s government and the Hezbollah-backed Lebanese faction.Meanwhile, the fragile ceasefire appears to be becoming increasingly strained, as Washington steps up pressure on Tehran while pursuing parallel peace efforts elsewhere in the region. The United States warned on Thursday it could resume air strikes on Iran and impose a naval blockade of its ports if Tehran refuses to accept a deal to end the ongoing conflict in parts of the Middle East.The warning came just hours before the latest diplomatic maneuvers involving Israel and Lebanon, highlighting the sharp contrast between temporary peace efforts in one theater and rising tensions in the other.At the same time, Pakistan’s military leadership stepped into the diplomatic arena, with Field Marshal Asim Munir visiting Tehran to meet Iranian peace negotiators, as Islamabad attempts to facilitate a new round of US-Iran talks after the first meeting in Pakistan last week ended without an agreement. Iranian state television showed Mounir discussing it with Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, who led the Iranian delegation at previous talks.Separately, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth issued a dire warning, saying: “If Iran makes the wrong decision, they will impose blockades and bombs on infrastructure, power and energy,” signaling that diplomacy as well as military pressure remains firmly on the table.However, Trump’s sweeping efforts to stabilize the region have yielded mixed results. While battlefield tensions with Iran have eased under the ceasefire framework, Washington and Tehran remain locked in a parallel confrontation. Rather than direct military escalation, pressure has shifted to the economic and strategic fronts, particularly around the Strait of Hormuz, where tensions remain due to the maritime chokepoint and alleged restrictions on Iranian port access.Following a two-week ceasefire between the US and Iran declared on April 7, Israel continued its attacks against Iranian proxy groups in Lebanon, which Tehran said violates the ceasefire and jeopardizes the fragile understanding with Washington.However, US and Israeli officials described Tehran’s position as a “misunderstanding”, saying that Lebanon was not part of the Iran ceasefire. Behind the scenes, Trump administration officials reportedly pressured Israel to reduce its operations to avoid undermining broader peace efforts with Iran.Trump had earlier signaled the urgency of the talks, posting on social media that he was seeking “a little breathing room between Israel and Lebanon”, noting that the leaders have not spoken directly in decades.After the ceasefire was announced, Trump said he had invited Netanyahu and Lebanese President Joseph Aoun to the White House for peace talks, potentially the first direct talks between the leaders in 34 years.
