Iran shuts Hormuz again after Israel hits 100 Lebanon targets

Iran shut the Strait of Hormuz again less than a day after a fragile U.S.-Iran ceasefire took effect, blaming Israeli strikes in Lebanon that killed more than 100 people and cast immediate doubt over whether the truce can survive.

The closure reversed one of the most important early understandings of the ceasefire, which had been expected to ease pressure on global oil and shipping markets.

The immediate trigger was a major Israeli wave of strikes on Beirut and other parts of Lebanon, which Lebanese authorities said killed at least 112 people and wounded hundreds, though later tallies reported by other outlets were higher. Israel said it hit more than 100 Hezbollah-linked targets within minutes, while Lebanon said commercial districts and residential neighborhoods were also struck.

The new crisis exposed a core dispute over the ceasefire itself; whether Lebanon was included. U.S. President Donald Trump said Lebanon was “not part” of the agreement because of Hezbollah, calling the fighting there a “separate skirmish,” while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also said the truce with Iran did not apply to Hezbollah.

That position was directly challenged by Iran and by mediator Pakistan. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said the terms of the two-week ceasefire were “clear and explicit” and warned that Washington must choose between preserving the truce or allowing what he called continued war through Israel. Pakistan has also maintained that Lebanon was part of the understanding reached to halt the wider conflict.

The closure of Hormuz is especially significant because the narrow waterway handles a major share of the world’s seaborne oil trade. Even a temporary shutdown raises the risk of energy price spikes, shipping delays and renewed military tension in the Gulf, making the maritime front one of the fastest ways this crisis could spread beyond Lebanon and Iran.

The broader backdrop remains highly unstable. Israel has signaled it will continue striking Hezbollah regardless of the U.S.-Iran truce, while Iran has increasingly tied Lebanon’s battlefield to the credibility of any diplomatic arrangement with Washington. That means violence on Israel’s northern front is no longer just a parallel conflict — it is now testing the durability of the entire ceasefire.

Meanwhile, the ceasefire still exists on paper, but the facts on the ground are moving in the opposite direction. With Hormuz shut again, Beirut under heavy bombardment and the terms of the truce openly disputed, the agreement appears less like a pause toward diplomacy and more like a temporary break before a wider escalation.

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