Trump's ceasefires holding only conditionally
- Associated Press reporting on Friday described Trump-backed ceasefires in Gaza, Lebanon and the U.S.-Iran conflict as still in place, but only as conditional pauses shadowed by fresh strikes and threats. - In southern Lebanon, Israeli strikes on three medical teams killed four medics, while Israeli warnings kept residents away from more than 50 villages near the border. - Six months after Gaza’s October 10, 2025 ceasefire, killings, hunger and stalled diplomacy show the region’s wars have shifted into unstable truces, not settlements. (abcnews.com)
Trump’s Middle East ceasefires are still holding on paper, but across Gaza, Lebanon and the Gulf they look more like pauses than peace. (abcnews.com) (newsday.com) The Associated Press reported April 25 that major military operations have slowed, yet Israel is still striking Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah-linked targets in Lebanon while U.S.-Iran talks remain unresolved. (abcnews.com) (gulfnews.com) In Lebanon, Reuters reported Israel and Lebanon agreed at the White House on April 24 to extend their ceasefire by three weeks. The extension came one day after Israeli strikes killed at least five people, including a journalist. (rappler.com) Associated Press separately reported that Israeli strikes hit three medical teams in southern Lebanon last week, killing four medics and wounding six. Witnesses said the attacks landed within minutes of each other. (apnews.com) Israeli military warnings have also kept Lebanese civilians from returning to a long list of border communities. Reports this week said more than 50 villages were named in those warnings. (thenationalnews.com) (5pillarsuk.com) In Gaza, the heaviest fighting stopped after the ceasefire that took effect on October 10, 2025, but civilians are still living with hunger, disease, destroyed services and periodic Israeli attacks. NBC News described families in Khan Younis dealing with rats, sewage and severe shortages six months later. (nbcnews.com) The United Nations human rights office said on April 10 that at least 738 Palestinians had been killed since the Gaza ceasefire began, citing the Palestinian Ministry of Health. Volker Türk said Israeli attacks were continuing routinely across the strip. (ohchr.org) The Iran track is also unsettled. Trump extended the ceasefire this week but said the United States would keep its naval blockade on Iranian ports, while Tehran kept pressure on the Strait of Hormuz and offered no public sign of concessions on its nuclear program or missiles. (abcnews.com) (rappler.com) A new round of U.S.-Iran talks had been planned for Saturday in Pakistan, but Trump later canceled the trip by Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner after Iranian officials downplayed the prospect of direct talks. (washingtonpost.com) (msn.com) That leaves Trump with three ceasefires that have reduced the scale of war without settling the disputes underneath. The guns are quieter than they were in March, but the strikes, blockades and displacement never fully stopped. (abcnews.com) (news.un.org)
