Why does Donald Trump want a premature ‘peace deal’ with Lebanon when the ceasefire is violated daily?

By Elijah J. Magnier –

At first glance, Donald Trump’s push for a rapid “peace deal” with Lebanon appears to be a diplomatic attempt to stabilise a volatile front. Yet the reality on the ground tells a different story. Washington speaks of a ceasefire that is “holding,” and to be renewed for another three weeks, while Benjamin Netanyahu’s government continues its strikes, assassinations, evacuation orders, and systematic destruction in southern Lebanon. This contradiction is not accidental. It reflects a political and strategic calculation in which the language of peace is used to cover the continuation of war and separate Iran from Lebanon. Peace is not failing here. It is being performed while the war continues under another name.

The illusion of a ceasefire

The United States maintains that the ceasefire remains in place while simultaneously insisting that Israel retains the right to defend itself against Hezbollah. This formulation provides Israel with operational latitude. It allows Washington to claim that diplomacy is functioning, even as military activity continues on a near-daily basis. On the ground, however, the distinction between ceasefire and conflict has become increasingly blurred. Southern Lebanon continues to experience regular airstrikes, drone attacks and artillery fire. Villages near the border and within 10 kilometres (and beyond) of the borders remain partially or fully depopulated due to evacuation orders that have not been lifted. Civilian infrastructure – homes, agricultural land, roads, and municipal services – has sustained cumulative destruction and sometimes severe damage that reflects not a pause in hostilities, but a transformation in their intensity and presentation.