Ceasefire on Israel‑Lebanon front

A 10-day ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon took effect late Thursday, pausing fighting on the northern front after weeks of heavier cross-border attacks. (apnews.com) The truce began at 5 p.m. Eastern on April 16, according to the U.S. State Department, which said Lebanon would work to prevent Hezbollah and other armed groups from attacking Israel during the pause. (state.gov) Israel said it would halt offensive operations against Lebanese targets during the 10 days, but Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israeli troops would stay inside southern Lebanon in a 10-kilometer, or 6-mile, security zone. (pbs.org) The deal covers states, but the fighting has centered on Hezbollah, the Iran-backed armed group based in Lebanon, which was not a formal signatory. Hezbollah said Lebanon has a right to resist any continued Israeli presence, leaving the truce dependent on how both sides interpret violations. (pbs.org) The ceasefire lands in the middle of a wider U.S.-Israel war with Iran that began in late February and has spread beyond Iran’s nuclear and missile sites to regional shipping and allied militias. A March 31 briefing from the U.K. Parliament library said the conflict had also renewed fighting in Lebanon despite the 2024 ceasefire there. (commonslibrary.parliament.uk) That same briefing says U.S. and Israeli strikes targeted Iranian military and nuclear-related infrastructure, and it lists the death of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei as part of the war’s political fallout inside Iran. (researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk) Washington tightened pressure on Tehran on April 15 by sanctioning more than two dozen people, companies and vessels tied to an Iranian oil shipping network run by Mohammad Hossein Shamkhani, the son of the late Ali Shamkhani. The Treasury Department said the action also targeted a Hezbollah-linked gold scheme. (home.treasury.gov) At sea, the pressure point is the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway at the mouth of the Persian Gulf that carries a large share of the world’s oil and gas exports. Bloomberg reported on April 16 that traffic remained severely constrained even as some tankers continued moving in both directions. (bloomberg.com) Iranian officials and advisers have answered with broader threats. Le Monde reported on April 16 that a military adviser to Iran’s supreme leader threatened to sink U.S. ships in the Strait unless hostile action stopped. (lemonde.fr) For now, families in Beirut and southern Lebanon have started moving as if the guns may stay quiet, while Israeli residents near the border are watching whether Hezbollah fire really stops. The next test is whether these 10 days produce a longer deal before the pause expires. (pbs.org)