254 dead - negotiations next week. The ceasefire still does not apply to everyone

Trump gave Netanyahu the green light shortly before the ceasefire announcement on Tuesday to continue the war in Lebanon. Then came the ceasefire with Iran. Then came the bombs on Beirut. In the 24 hours after the announcement, Israel massively escalated its attacks on Lebanon. At least 254 people were killed, according to the Lebanese civil defense.

Then Steve Witkoff called Netanyahu and asked him to calm the attacks.

That was the word. Calm. For a war that the same administration had approved just hours earlier.

Netanyahu responded with an announcement. Israel will begin negotiations with Lebanon next week - in Washington, at the State Department. US Ambassador Michel Issa will lead the American side, Israel’s Ambassador to the United States Yechiel Leiter the Israeli side. That is the diplomatic response to Witkoff’s request.

The military response continued in parallel.

Iran says Lebanon was part of the ceasefire deal. Pakistan, which mediated, says the same. The United States and Israel say the agreement does not apply to Israel’s offensive against Hezbollah. Iran is threatening to let the talks in Islamabad collapse or to keep the Strait of Hormuz closed as long as Israel continues attacking Lebanon.

Three positions. 254 dead. A ceasefire that, depending on the perspective, either applies or does not apply.

And then this:

The United Nations’ special envoy for the Iran war, Jean Arnault, met Thursday in Tehran with Deputy Foreign Minister Majid Takht-Ravanchi as he continues his tour through countries affected by the conflict. U.N. spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said Arnault listened to Iranian officials’ “views on the way forward” as a fragile, day-old ceasefire holds. Arnault also met with representatives of the Iranian Red Crescent, who showed him sites damaged by weeks of U.S.-Israeli strikes, including a destroyed university and a damaged apartment building. Asked whether Arnault or other U.N. personnel would play a role in upcoming negotiations in Pakistan, Dujarric said the United Nations is currently in discussions with all parties about “the structural role” it can play in bringing the conflict to an end.

This is the second day of this peace.