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WASHINGTON, D.C. — The two-week ceasefire between the United States and Iran, announced just Tuesday by President Donald Trump, is already on the verge of collapse less than 48 hours after it was declared.

Israel launched what military officials described as the largest strike operation against Hezbollah in Lebanon on Wednesday, killing at least 203 people and wounding over 1,000 more according to Lebanon's Ministry of Health. The strikes targeted locations across Beirut, the Bekaa Valley, Mount Lebanon, Sidon, and villages in southern Lebanon.

The attacks have ignited a firestorm of international condemnation and a furious response from Tehran, which says the strikes constitute a direct violation of the ceasefire agreement.

The Lebanon Loophole That Could Unravel Everything

At the heart of the dispute is a fundamental disagreement over whether Lebanon was included in the ceasefire deal.

When Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, acting as mediator, announced the ceasefire between Iran and the United States, he specifically stated it would also take effect in Lebanon. Iran maintains that the agreement explicitly covers Lebanese territory and Hezbollah's operations there.

But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office issued a statement Wednesday morning declaring that his government supports Trump's decision to suspend strikes against Iran for two weeks — while explicitly stating that the ceasefire does not extend to Lebanon.

Vice President JD Vance echoed that position, telling reporters that Israel had merely offered to "restrain" its strikes in Lebanon during the negotiation period, not cease them entirely.

Iran Warns Of Retaliation

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps issued a blunt warning Wednesday evening that it will respond to the attacks on Lebanon if Israel does not halt its assault. Hezbollah lawmaker Hassan Fadlallah told Reuters that the strikes were a grave violation of the ceasefire and warned there would be repercussions for the entire agreement if they continue.

The Iranian government has accused the United States of failing to uphold its end of the bargain, arguing that Washington gave Israel a green light to intensify operations in Lebanon precisely because the ceasefire was supposed to provide diplomatic cover.

British Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper called Israel's strikes on Lebanon deeply damaging, telling Times Radio on Thursday that the international community wants to see Lebanon included in the ceasefire and warning that excluding it would destabilize the entire region.