The United States and Iran agreed to a two-week pause in fighting intended to open space for negotiations, but Israel continued — and expanded — airstrikes against Hezbollah in Lebanon, highlighting uncertainty over whether the truce was meant to cover conflicts beyond U.S.-Iran hostilities.
The United States and Iran agreed to a two-week ceasefire announced late Tuesday, a deal Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said would take effect immediately and apply “everywhere,” including Lebanon, according to NPR reporting.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office, however, said the pause with Iran does not extend to Israel’s war with Hezbollah in Lebanon, a position echoed in NPR’s coverage and in separate reporting by other outlets.
Israel carried out what NPR described as its largest attack in Lebanon since the start of the fighting, striking targets in and around Beirut and across southern Lebanon on Wednesday. Lebanese authorities reported large numbers of casualties and widespread displacement, though the precise totals varied across early accounts.
The ceasefire announcement briefly eased market fears tied to the disruption of global shipping and energy supplies. But the agreement’s durability was immediately tested by continued attacks across the region and renewed pressure around the Strait of Hormuz — a strategic waterway that Iran has used as leverage during the conflict.
In Iraq, U.S. officials said freelance American journalist Shelly Kittleson was released Tuesday after being kidnapped in Baghdad the previous week. The Associated Press reported she was taken on March 31 and that Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced her release, while The Washington Post had reported U.S. and Iraqi officials believed Kataib Hezbollah was responsible for the abduction, though the group had not publicly claimed it.
Diplomatic efforts were expected to continue in the coming days, with Pakistan publicly inviting U.S. and Iranian delegations to talks in Islamabad aimed at turning the temporary pause into a broader political agreement.
