US President Donald Trump has accused Iran of doing a ‘very poor job’ in its handling of oil passing through the decisive Strait of Hormuz, arguing it was ‘not the agreement we have’, according to the BBC. This statement highlights the fragile nature of the ceasefire agreement, with reports showing conflicts on what was included in the accord.

Confusion Over Ceasefire Terms

The ceasefire agreement has been mired in confusion, particularly regarding whether Lebanon, Israel’s second front, was to be included. Iranian officials and mediators from Pakistan said it was, while US and Israeli officials said clearly that it was not. This confusion has led to a wave of Israeli strikes on Lebanon—the heaviest since the conflict began six weeks ago—prompting Iran to declare that Israel was breaking the terms of the ceasefire.

In response, Iran halted passage of shipping through the Strait of Hormuz and threatened retaliatory strikes. Trump posted to Truth Social over ship traffic through the key waterway, which typically sees 20% of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG) passing through. ‘There are reports that Iran is charging fees to tankers going through the Hormuz Strait,’ he wrote. ‘They better not be and, if they are, they better stop now.’

Israeli Strikes and Evacuation Warnings

Israeli strikes on Thursday led to new evacuation warnings for residents in the southern suburbs of the capital, Beirut. The head of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said on X that this included the Jnah area, which includes two major hospitals. ‘At this time, no alternative medical facilities are available to receive approximately 450 patients from the two hospitals (including 40 patients in the ICU), rendering their evacuation operationally unfeasible,’ he said.

Among those being treated at the hospitals, Tedros added, were some of the 1,150 people that Lebanon’s health ministry said were wounded in Wednesday’s massive wave of Israeli strikes. At least 303 people were killed. Tedros also said that the headquarters of the Ministry of Public Health, which ‘hosts five shelters accommodating more than 5,000 people’, is in the evacuation area.

Israeli military continues to occupy a large part of the south of Lebanon, where it has destroyed villages in recent days. Without a commitment to a temporary ceasefire at least, it is not clear how productive talks could proceed between the two sides. It is also unclear how much sway the Lebanese government, with which the Israelis will be negotiating, will have over Hezbollah, which despite having representation in the Lebanese government is a separate entity backed by Iran.

Lebanon’s Ceasefire Calls and Direct Talks

Lebanese officials had called for a ceasefire before the talks begin, but Netanyahu said in a subsequent address to residents of northern Israel: ‘There is no ceasefire in Lebanon.’ After Israeli strikes continued in Lebanon throughout Thursday—targeting what it described as Hezbollah rocket launch sites in the south—attacks appeared to at least temporarily taper off overnight in the region.

Trump said in an interview that Israel would be ‘scaling back’ its strikes in the country to support peace talks. ‘I spoke with Bibi and he’s going to low-key it. I just think we have to be sort of a little more low-key,’ Trump told NBC News after a phone call with Netanyahu.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his government was to begin direct talks with Lebanon, focusing on the disarmament of Hezbollah, the Iran-backed militant group, and establishing peaceful relations. A US State Department official confirmed it would host a meeting next week in Washington ‘to discuss ongoing ceasefire negotiations with Israel and Lebanon.’

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun earlier said that a ceasefire was ‘the only solution’ to the situation in Lebanon. The latest escalation in the decades-long conflict between Hezbollah and Israel erupted when the group fired rockets into Israel in retaliation for the killing of Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in the opening stages of the war, and in response to the near-daily Israeli attacks on Lebanon that have continued despite a ceasefire agreed in November 2024.

More than 1,800 people have been killed, including at least 130 children, so far as a result of the war, the Lebanese health ministry says, without distinguishing combatants from civilians. Israel says it has killed around 1,100 Hezbollah fighters. More than 1.2 million people have been displaced, or one in five of the population, most of them from Shia Muslim communities.