Trump Reportedly Agreed to Include Lebanon in Ceasefire But Lied About It Anyway
The death toll from Israel’s massive, 10-minute blitz on Lebanon on Wednesday has surpassed 300 people.
By Sharon Zhang ,
Vice President J.D. Vance said on Wednesday that the dispute over whether Lebanon was included “comes from a legitimate misunderstanding. I think the Iranians thought that the ceasefire included Lebanon, and it just didn’t,” he told press. Trump and White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt also said that Lebanon wasn’t included.
Despite this assertion being, evidently, a lie, Vance went as far as to say that it would be “dumb” if “Iran wants to let this negotiation fall apart” because of Israel’s attack. “We think that would be dumb, but that’s their choice,” he said.
Israel Carpet Bombs Lebanon After Announcement of Iran Ceasefire
Israeli forces announced on Wednesday that it struck 100 sites in Lebanon over 10 minutes. By Sharon Zhang , TruthoutApril 8, 2026
The comment came on Wednesday, less than a day after the ceasefire went into effect, after Israeli forces carpet bombed Lebanon, including the capital of Beirut, in an operation the military dubbed “Eternal Darkness.” The deluge of strikes, which came over the course of just 10 minutes, destroyed buildings across the country, collapsing residential buildings with no warning.
As of Thursday, the death toll from the strikes had surpassed 300, according to Lebanese health officials, with 1,150 injured. Hospitals have been unable to cope with the load, with patients dying as they await care.
Israel has a long history of violating ceasefire deals, especially right as they are announced.
CBS’s report lines up with what Iranian officials have said about Lebanon’s inclusion in the deal, as well as officials from Pakistan, which served as the key mediator for the negotiation of the deal.
“I am pleased to announce that the Islamic Republic of Iran and the United States of America, along with their allies, have agreed to an immediate ceasefire everywhere including Lebanon and elsewhere,” wrote Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday, announcing the agreement.
Earlier that day, Sharif had posted a statement about a progressing ceasefire deal on X that was reportedly directly approved by the White House.
Iranian politicians have sharply criticized the U.S. for excusing Israel’s wanton violence in Lebanon.
“The Iran–U.S. Ceasefire terms are clear and explicit: the U.S. must choose — ceasefire or continued war via Israel. It cannot have both,” said Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Araghchi.
Araghchi went on to suggest that the U.S. is bending over backwards for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s benefit.
“Netanyahu’s criminal trial resumes on [Sunday]. A region-wide ceasefire, incl in Lebanon, would hasten his jailing,” said Araghchi in a post on X, referencing Netanyahu’s penchant for using military action to postpone proceedings on his criminal trial.
“If the U S. wishes to crater its economy by letting Netanyahu kill diplomacy, that would ultimately be its choice. We think that would be dumb but are prepared for it,” Araghchi went on, in a jab at Vance.
Vance also said on Wednesday that Israel had agreed to step down its attacks, which Trump repeated. However, Netanyahu contradicted them, saying in an address on Thursday: “There is no ceasefire in Lebanon. We continue to strike Hezbollah with full force.”
The death toll from Israel’s massive, 10-minute blitz on Lebanon on Wednesday has surpassed 300 people.
By Sharon Zhang ,
April 10, 2026
Firefighters attempt to extinguish a fire following an Israeli strike at the Corniche al-Mazraa neighbourhood of Beirut on April 8, 2026. Around 2:00 pm, a series of Israeli strikes slammed into the Lebanese capital without warning, triggering scenes of panic.Ibrahim AMRO / AFP via Getty Images
The Trump administration is lying about Lebanon’s inclusion in the Iran ceasefire deal that officials agreed to on Tuesday, as new reporting finds that U.S. President Donald Trump agreed to pause bombardments on the country before Israel launched a horrific wave of airstrikes just hours after the ceasefire went into effect.
CBS reported on Thursday, citing “multiple diplomatic sources,” that Trump was told of and agreed to Lebanon’s inclusion in the ceasefire — and that it would in fact encompass the entirety of the Middle East, including the Gulf countries that Iran has launched retaliatory strikes on.
This reporting sharply contradicts statements from various figures within the Trump administration that were made after Israeli forces bombarded Lebanon, evidently in violation of the agreement.
The Trump administration is lying about Lebanon’s inclusion in the Iran ceasefire deal that officials agreed to on Tuesday, as new reporting finds that U.S. President Donald Trump agreed to pause bombardments on the country before Israel launched a horrific wave of airstrikes just hours after the ceasefire went into effect.
CBS reported on Thursday, citing “multiple diplomatic sources,” that Trump was told of and agreed to Lebanon’s inclusion in the ceasefire — and that it would in fact encompass the entirety of the Middle East, including the Gulf countries that Iran has launched retaliatory strikes on.
This reporting sharply contradicts statements from various figures within the Trump administration that were made after Israeli forces bombarded Lebanon, evidently in violation of the agreement.
Vice President J.D. Vance said on Wednesday that the dispute over whether Lebanon was included “comes from a legitimate misunderstanding. I think the Iranians thought that the ceasefire included Lebanon, and it just didn’t,” he told press. Trump and White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt also said that Lebanon wasn’t included.
Despite this assertion being, evidently, a lie, Vance went as far as to say that it would be “dumb” if “Iran wants to let this negotiation fall apart” because of Israel’s attack. “We think that would be dumb, but that’s their choice,” he said.
Israel Carpet Bombs Lebanon After Announcement of Iran Ceasefire
Israeli forces announced on Wednesday that it struck 100 sites in Lebanon over 10 minutes. By Sharon Zhang , TruthoutApril 8, 2026
The comment came on Wednesday, less than a day after the ceasefire went into effect, after Israeli forces carpet bombed Lebanon, including the capital of Beirut, in an operation the military dubbed “Eternal Darkness.” The deluge of strikes, which came over the course of just 10 minutes, destroyed buildings across the country, collapsing residential buildings with no warning.
As of Thursday, the death toll from the strikes had surpassed 300, according to Lebanese health officials, with 1,150 injured. Hospitals have been unable to cope with the load, with patients dying as they await care.
Israel has a long history of violating ceasefire deals, especially right as they are announced.
CBS’s report lines up with what Iranian officials have said about Lebanon’s inclusion in the deal, as well as officials from Pakistan, which served as the key mediator for the negotiation of the deal.
“I am pleased to announce that the Islamic Republic of Iran and the United States of America, along with their allies, have agreed to an immediate ceasefire everywhere including Lebanon and elsewhere,” wrote Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday, announcing the agreement.
Earlier that day, Sharif had posted a statement about a progressing ceasefire deal on X that was reportedly directly approved by the White House.
Iranian politicians have sharply criticized the U.S. for excusing Israel’s wanton violence in Lebanon.
“The Iran–U.S. Ceasefire terms are clear and explicit: the U.S. must choose — ceasefire or continued war via Israel. It cannot have both,” said Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Araghchi.
Araghchi went on to suggest that the U.S. is bending over backwards for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s benefit.
“Netanyahu’s criminal trial resumes on [Sunday]. A region-wide ceasefire, incl in Lebanon, would hasten his jailing,” said Araghchi in a post on X, referencing Netanyahu’s penchant for using military action to postpone proceedings on his criminal trial.
“If the U S. wishes to crater its economy by letting Netanyahu kill diplomacy, that would ultimately be its choice. We think that would be dumb but are prepared for it,” Araghchi went on, in a jab at Vance.
Vance also said on Wednesday that Israel had agreed to step down its attacks, which Trump repeated. However, Netanyahu contradicted them, saying in an address on Thursday: “There is no ceasefire in Lebanon. We continue to strike Hezbollah with full force.”
“Civilians in Lebanon are already paying an unbearable price with children, health workers, and journalists amongst those killed—the latest attacks will only escalate this devastating human toll,” said one campaigner.
A woman injured in an Israeli airstrike arrives at a hospital in Nabatieh, Lebanon on April 8, 2026.
(Photo by Chris McGrath/Getty Images)
Brett Wilkins
Apr 09, 2026
COMMON DREAMS
Humanitarian campaigners, civil rights defenders, and progressive members of Congress were among those calling on the Trump administration to pressure Israel to stop bombing Lebanon after Israeli airstrikes killed or wounded more than 1,400 people—many of them civilians—on Wednesday.
In what Amnesty International called an “unprecedented escalation,” the Israel Defense Forces said it carried out the “largest coordinated wave of strikes” of its renewed war on Hezbollah in Lebanon. Around 100 sites in the country were bombed in one 10-minute period alone in what the IDF dubbedr “Operation Eternal Darkness.”
As in Gaza, Israel’s ‘Deliberate’ Bombing of Lebanese Civilians Takes Heavy Toll
Despite Ceasefire With Iran, Israel Pummels Lebanon With ‘Apocalyptic’ Strikes
Lebanese officials said that at least 303 people were killed and 1,165 others wounded by Israeli strikes on Wednesday, the deadliest day of attacks since Israel resumed bombardment of Lebanon and likely since it started bombing its northern neighbor after the Hamas-led Palestinian attack of October 7, 2023.
While Lebanese authorities do not break down casualties according to combatant status, officials and residents of the capital city of Beirut said that civilians were the main victims of Wednesday’s bombings, which targeted apartment towers and other civilian structures in numerous densely populated urban areas.
Humanitarian campaigners, civil rights defenders, and progressive members of Congress were among those calling on the Trump administration to pressure Israel to stop bombing Lebanon after Israeli airstrikes killed or wounded more than 1,400 people—many of them civilians—on Wednesday.
In what Amnesty International called an “unprecedented escalation,” the Israel Defense Forces said it carried out the “largest coordinated wave of strikes” of its renewed war on Hezbollah in Lebanon. Around 100 sites in the country were bombed in one 10-minute period alone in what the IDF dubbedr “Operation Eternal Darkness.”
As in Gaza, Israel’s ‘Deliberate’ Bombing of Lebanese Civilians Takes Heavy Toll
Despite Ceasefire With Iran, Israel Pummels Lebanon With ‘Apocalyptic’ Strikes
Lebanese officials said that at least 303 people were killed and 1,165 others wounded by Israeli strikes on Wednesday, the deadliest day of attacks since Israel resumed bombardment of Lebanon and likely since it started bombing its northern neighbor after the Hamas-led Palestinian attack of October 7, 2023.
While Lebanese authorities do not break down casualties according to combatant status, officials and residents of the capital city of Beirut said that civilians were the main victims of Wednesday’s bombings, which targeted apartment towers and other civilian structures in numerous densely populated urban areas.
One witness, a woman named Fatima, told Amnesty International what she saw in the immediate aftermath of an IDF strike on a building across the street from her home in Beirut’s Salim Salam neighborhood.
“It was apocalyptic,” she said. “Bodies on the ground. Blood everywhere. I saw countless wounded adults and children. I walked further but it was the same scene in the other neighborhoods too. I did not know where to go. I just walked aimlessly trying to get as far as possible. It was a nightmare.”
Dr. Firass Abiad, a surgeon and wformer Lebanese health minister, told The Guardian that American University of Beirut Medical College, where he works, received about 70 patients at the same time, a situation he said was intentionally caused by Israel “to flood the health system.”
“There was a 90-year-old who I just left a bit ago. He passed away from his wounds,” he said. “There was nothing we could do. These are civilians who, without any warning, their whole apartment building was flattened. So you can imagine the severity of injuries that we’re getting.”
Shaden Fakih, a 24-year-old calisthenics trainer, described trying to find his friend who was inside a building when it was bombed. He couldn’t locate his friend, but he was seen carrying an elderly woman from the rubble.
“There’s no Hezbollah here, the Israelis are just getting happy when they bomb people, it’s not about Hezbollah,” Fakih said in an interview with The Guardian. “Just stop bombing us. If you want to kill Hezbollah, go for it, but don’t kill civilians, because you’re creating anger in us against Israel and we will have to act like Hezbollah just to defend our country. But I don’t want to do that, I just want to live in peace.”
“It’s been the worst day since the war started,” he added. “And what I’m most sad about is that my pretty Lebanon, our beautiful Lebanon, soon it will all be brought down to the ground.”
As Common Dreams reported, Israeli strikes have wiped out entire families in Lebanon and Iran. In Gaza, more than 2,700 families have been erased from the civil registry.
Responding to Wednesday’s attacks, Amnesty International Middle East and North Africa regional director Heba Morayef said that “just hours after the world cautiously welcomed news of a US-Israeli ceasefire with Iran, in Lebanon the nightmare for civilians has become more terrifying.”
“Even before today’s attack... more than 1,500 people had been killed and over a million people displaced from their homes across the country,” Morayef continued, referring to Israel’s bombardment of Lebanon after Hezbollah began launching rockets and drones southward in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza. Israel’s genocidal assault on Gaza has left more than 250,000 Palestinians dead, injured, or missing.
“Civilians in Lebanon are already paying an unbearable price with children, health workers, and journalists amongst those killed—the latest attacks will only escalate this devastating human toll,” Morayef added. “These attacks are a reminder that states must immediately halt the transfer of arms and weapons to Israel given the overriding risk that they will be used to commit serious violations of international humanitarian law.”
The Washington, DC-based Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) said in a statement late Wednesday, “Once again, Israel’s genocidal government is trying to derail a ceasefire and ensure peace does not succeed by slaughtering innocent civilians.”
“The Trump administration must stop them from carrying out this brutal plan,” the group added. “Israel has demonstrated time and again that it cannot be trusted to abide by peace agreements. It is time for our government to cut all support for Israel’s atrocities.”
These and other groups, as well as governments in the Mideast and beyond, and US progressives, are demanding that Lebanon be included in the ceasefire. Although Israel agreed to the truce, the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu—who is wanted by the International Criminal Court for alleged crimes against humanity and war crimes in Gaza—asserts that the deal does not include Lebanon.
Iran categorically rejects Israel’s claim and is using its leverage over the Strait of Hormuz to pressure Israel to reconsider its stance.
Some US progressives called for President Donald Trump to pressure Israel to stop attacking Lebanon, and for a suspension of American arms transfers to the IDF.
“It is unconscionable we continue to provide aid to Israel as they continue to murder civilians and violate international law in Lebanon, Gaza, and the West Bank,” Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) said Thursday on Bluesky. “No more money to Israel’s genocidal apartheid regime.”
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