Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered his government Thursday to start negotiations with Lebanon as “soon as possible” to disarm Hezbollah fighters, as violence between the Middle Eastern neighbors threatened the ceasefire that President Trump had struck with Iran.
Mr. Netanyahu said talks would seek “peaceful relations between Israel and Lebanon” as global leaders heaped pressure on Israel to stop assaulting Beirut with bombing that killed civilians.
Strikes against Iran-backed militants in Lebanon emerged as the biggest threat to the two-week pause in fighting.
Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, writing on social media Thursday, pointed to the Pakistani government’s statement on the ceasefire, which explicitly included Lebanon.
He said any violations of the ceasefire agreement would “carry explicit costs and STRONG responses.”
“Extinguish the fire immediately,” Mr. Ghalibaf posted.
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Slow traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, a critical passage for oil exports, remained the other sticking point ahead of deeper negotiations between the U.S. and Iran, scheduled to begin Saturday in Pakistan.
“Let’s be clear: the Strait of Hormuz is not open. Access is being restricted, conditioned and controlled,” Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, CEO of Abu Dhabi’s state oil company, wrote on LinkedIn.
“Iran has made clear — through both its statements and actions — that passage is subject to permission, conditions and political leverage. That is not freedom of navigation. That is coercion.”
Oil prices neared $100 per barrel as traffic through the Strait of Hormuz remained sluggish amid Iran’s assertion of control.
U.S. stocks sank at the opening bell but rebounded on hopes that the ceasefire would hold.
Mr. Trump is dispatching Vice President J.D. Vance and envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner to Islamabad this weekend to finalize a lasting peace with Iranian leaders who took over after their top ranks were wiped out in U.S.-Israeli strikes.
On social media, Mr. Trump said the U.S. military was standing by with additional ammunition and weapons aimed at Iran until an authentic agreement is reached and carried out.
“All U.S. Ships, Aircraft, and Military Personnel, with additional Ammunition, Weaponry, and anything else that is appropriate and necessary for the lethal prosecution and destruction of an already substantially degraded Enemy, will remain in place in, and around, Iran, until such time as the REAL AGREEMENT reached is fully complied with,” Mr. Trump posted on Truth Social.
If Iran violates the agreement, he said, “then the ‘Shootin’ Starts,’ bigger, and better, and stronger than anyone has ever seen before.”
He added, “It was agreed, a long time ago, and despite all of the fake rhetoric to the contrary — NO NUCLEAR WEAPONS and, the Strait of Hormuz WILL BE OPEN & SAFE.”
All sides of the conflict were leaning into negotiations after Mr. Trump agreed late Tuesday to back away from his threat to order the death of “a whole civilization” in Iran.
Officials in Tehran agreed to open the Strait of Hormuz as part of the Pakistani-brokered ceasefire. However, Israeli strikes in Lebanon quickly put the ceasefire in doubt.
“I think the Iranians thought that the ceasefire included Lebanon,” Mr. Vance told reporters Wednesday. “We never made that promise.”
The next day, Mr. Netanyahu said the two-week ceasefire “does not include Lebanon.”
Mr. Ghalibaf, however, said violations of the U.S.-Iran ceasefire would be costly.
Mr. Trump told NBC News that he was confident the ceasefire could hold because Iranian leaders are “much more reasonable” in private than in the press. He prodded Mr. Netanyahu to ease up on strikes in Lebanon.
“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,” the president told the network.
European leaders, meanwhile, toggled between calling on Hezbollah to disarm and scolding Israel over strikes that caused death and destruction.
“Israeli actions are putting the U.S.-Iran ceasefire under severe strain. The Iran truce should extend to Lebanon,” Kaja Kallas, who leads foreign affairs for the European Union, posted on X. “Hezbollah must disarm. The EU supports Lebanon’s efforts to disarm Hezbollah.”
French President Emmanuel Macron said France condemned the Israeli strikes “in the strongest possible terms.”
British Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said Lebanon should be included in the ceasefire. Italy urged Israel to stop its bombardment.
Britain rejected the idea of Iran setting up a toll system for the Strait of Hormuz, arguing that commercial ships should be able to traverse the waterway freely and safely under international law.
British Defense Secretary John Healey told reporters that Britain and its allies want the strait reopened soon and that the creation of a toll system, under which commercial vessels would pay an exorbitant fee to safely travel through the waterway, would set a dangerous precedent.
Mr. Trump had suggested that the U.S. could enter into a “joint venture” with Iran to set up a toll system that, in theory, would generate revenue for Washington and Tehran.
The White House later walked back the idea, saying it was a rough concept from the president and not an accepted plan.
As oil prices remained high, the national average price of a gallon of gas stood at $4.17, up from just below $3 at the start of the war on Feb. 28, according to the AAA motor club.
Analysts say drivers should find some relief at the pump in the coming days if the ceasefire holds and oil prices stabilize.
Some economic damage from the war might be irreversible.
The International Monetary Fund said it was downgrading its outlook for economic growth in 2026 because of the war.
Instead of an improvement over last year, it now projects growth slowing to 3.1% from 3.2% in 2025.
“Even in a best case, there will be no neat and clean return to the status quo ante,” Kristalina Georgieva, the IMF’s managing director, said in a speech Thursday ahead of spring meetings between the fund and the World Bank. “What we do know is that growth will be slower, even if the new peace is durable.”
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