UK, France, Australia press U.S., Israel to include Lebanon in truce

France, Britain and Australia urged that Lebanon be included in the U.S.-Iran ceasefire after deadly Israeli strikes deepened fears of wider regional escalation.

Several Western countries have urged that Lebanon be explicitly included in the fragile two-week U.S.-Iran ceasefire, after deadly Israeli strikes raised fears that the truce could quickly unravel. The push followed one of the heaviest days of Israeli bombardment in Lebanon since the latest regional escalation began.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot strongly condemned the strikes and said the ceasefire must extend to Lebanon, where civilians have borne the brunt of the violence. Britain and Australia also called for an immediate and broader regional de-escalation, though Israel has rejected outside pressure to halt operations against Hezbollah.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said Israel supports the ceasefire with Iran, but not if it limits military action against Hezbollah in Lebanon. His office said the truce does not apply to the Lebanese front, creating a sharp contradiction with countries and mediators that had understood the deal more broadly.

That disagreement widened after U.S. Vice President JD Vance said Washington had never agreed that Lebanon would be covered, calling Tehran’s interpretation a “legitimate misunderstanding.” Pakistan, which helped broker the ceasefire, had earlier indicated that Lebanon was part of the understanding, exposing a serious gap between the public positions of the parties involved.

The diplomatic dispute came as Lebanon reeled from a devastating new wave of attacks. Lebanese officials said the strikes killed at least 182 people, while other reports later put the death toll even higher, with more than 1,100 wounded. The scale of the casualties prompted Lebanon to declare a national day of mourning.

The fight over Lebanon’s status now threatens to become the biggest fault line in the wider U.S.-Iran truce. If the ceasefire is interpreted differently by Washington, Tehran, Israel and mediators, it risks becoming less a path to diplomacy and more a pause overshadowed by competing war aims.

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