US Democrats warn Trump that Iran ceasefire must apply to Lebanon

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After Israel dropped hundreds of bombs across Lebanon, killing at least 254 people on Wednesday, some US legislators also urged President Donald Trump to rein in his ally, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. “Netanyahu continues to escalate the war and kill civilians, pushing America into the risk of a broader regional war,” Congressman Dave Min wrote on the social media platform X. “It is clear his interests are not aligned with ours. We must stand up and say enough is enough.” The statements, which came from centrist as well as progressive Democrats, signal the domestic pressure on Trump to end the war on Iran and related fighting across the Middle East, following a two-week truce announced on Tuesday. Pakistan, which mediated the ceasefire and is set to host talks between US and Iranian officials, had unambiguously said that the truce applies to Lebanon. But Israel contradicted that account and launched one of its deadliest attacks on Lebanon less than 24 hours after the agreement was reached. Progressive Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley warned that the war “will never end” if Trump allows Netanyahu to continue bombing Lebanon. “For a ceasefire to hold, the US must act to halt war crimes in Lebanon,” Pressley said in a social media post. Congresswoman Debbie Dingell, a Michigan Democrat who represents a sizable Lebanese community, said that, for the ceasefire to become permanent, Lebanon must be included in the truce. “Netanyahu helped walk us into war, but he cannot keep us there,” Dingell wrote on X. Several Iranian officials have also emphasised that the ceasefire may not stand if Israel continues to attack Lebanon. As justification, they have pointed to Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s description of the ceasefire on Tuesday, which specifically mentions the country. “With the greatest humility, I am pleased to announce that the Islamic Republic of Iran and the United States of America, along with their allies, have agreed to an immediate ceasefire everywhere including Lebanon and elsewhere, EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY,” Sharif had said. But Trump and several of his aides denied on Wednesday that Lebanon is part of the deal. Vice President JD Vance suggested that “a legitimate misunderstanding” may have caused Iran to believe that Lebanon was included in the ceasefire. “If Iran wants to let this negotiation fall apart — in a conflict where they were getting hammered — over Lebanon, which has nothing to do with them and which the United States never once said was part of the ceasefire, that’s ultimately their choice,” Vance said on Wednesday. “We think that would be dumb, but that’s their choice.” Democrats on the House Foreign Affairs Committee slammed Vance’s comment, saying that such a misunderstanding during high-stakes negotiations would be a sign of “incompetence”. Congresswoman Yassamin Ansari called on Trump and Vance to pressure Israel to stop its attacks on Lebanon. “Lebanon must be included in this fragile ceasefire,” she wrote. “The horrific bombings and murder of hundreds of civilians in Beirut and elsewhere by Netanyahu need to end immediately.” Another Congresswoman, Rashida Tlaib, gestured to a resolution she introduced last month to ban US involvement in Israel’s assault on Lebanon. She renewed her call for her fellow legislators to support the measure. “I didn’t wait for the genocidal regime of Israel to kill over 250 people in Lebanon yesterday to file resolutions to stop the US funding of these war crimes,” the Democrat wrote online. “So for colleagues speaking up now, welcome, but also don’t just tweet, support the war powers resolution to save lives.” Democratic Senator Elissa Slotkin, a Michigan centrist who is usually supportive of Israel, expressed solidarity with her Lebanese American constituents after what she called “significant Israeli air strikes and civilian casualties”. “For a ceasefire deal to be viable, it must cover the full scope of this regional conflict, including Lebanon,” Slotkin wrote on X. “The US negotiators should help prevent further loss of civilian life by sitting down with all parties and being transparent about the deal on the table and how to bring the war to a reasonable end.” But Republican US Congressman Randy Fine, a Trump ally with a long history of Islamophobic statements, defended the Israeli strikes as separate from the war in Iran. “The president has been very clear the ceasefire with Iran did not include Hezbollah,” Fine told the television channel Newsmax. “Israel is not attacking Lebanon. Israel is attacking Hezbollah.” Wednesday’s attacks on Lebanon targeted densely populated neighbourhoods, shops, ambulances and at least one funeral. The conflict in Lebanon ramped up after the US and Israel initiated the war on Iran in February 28, and at least 1,497 people in Lebanon have been killed since early March. 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