Updated April 16, 2026 at 6:42 PM EDT
Attention turned to Lebanon Thursday night to see if a new ceasefire, announced by President Trump, would pause the fighting by Israel and the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah.
Israel and Lebanon agreed to the 10-day ceasefire, but Israel vowed to keep its forces in southern Lebanon, saying it would attack if threatened by Hezbollah.
Meanwhile, Trump sounded optimistic again about negotiations with Iran, and even told reporters he "might" go to Pakistan if there was a peace deal to sign.
"They've agreed to give us back the nuclear dust that's way underground because of the attack that we made with the B-2 bombers. So we have a lot of agreement with Iran and I think something is going to happen very positive," Trump said.
The U.S. continued enforcing a naval blockade on ships entering and exiting Iranian ports in the Strait of Hormuz.
Here are more updates from the Middle East conflict:
Israel ceasefire in Lebanon | U.S.-Iran talks | Iranian threats
Israel agrees to a 10-day ceasefire in the war against Hezbollah in Lebanon
A 10-day ceasefire was due to begin in Lebanon at 5 p.m. after Israeli and Lebanese leaders had calls with President Trump and said they agreed to the temporary truce, which was supposed to pause the war between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah militants.
There was uncertainty about whether the ceasefire would take effect, and if it would hold.
Israel vowed to keep its troops in southern Lebanon, and Hezbollah said the Lebanese people have "the right to resist" remaining Israeli forces in the country, Reuters reported.
Lebanon's state-run National News Agency reported Israeli army shelling and gunfire in parts of southern Lebanon after the designated start time.
Hezbollah acknowledge the ceasefire in a statement but urged Lebanese who had flee the violence around their homes to hold off going back to their villages in southern Lebanon for their safety.
Hezbollah has both a political wing, with lawmakers in Lebanon's national parliament, and militia that operates largely independently of the Lebanese government and receives funding and direction from Iran.
Lebanon's government has pushed for a ceasefire before entering bigger diplomatic negotiations with Israel. Hezbollah opposes the talks.
Israel's ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Danon, said the ceasefire would take effect at 5 p.m. — but warned that the Israeli military would take action if threatened.
"We will have to follow very carefully what's happening on the ground. And if we will feel threatened, we will react," Danon told reporters at the State Department in Washington. "We are not going anywhere. We are holding our positions."
"The problem is not with the Lebanese government. The problem is with Hezbollah. And it will be challenging," he said.
Trump also said he is inviting Netanyahu and Lebanese President Joseph Aoun to the White House for peace talks.
These developments come two days after Israeli and Lebanese ambassadors to the U.S. held rare talks in Washington, the first direct high-level engagement between the two countries in decades.
Israel had agreed to a ceasefire in Lebanon in 2024, but U.N. peacekeepers recorded more than 10,000 violations of that agreement, mostly by Israeli forces.
The latest chapter of fighting escalated after Israel and the U.S. launched attacks on Iran on Feb. 28. Within a few days, Hezbollah began firing rockets into northern Israel. Israeli forces responded with airstrikes and an invasion of southern Lebanon.
Israeli strikes have killed more than 2,100 people and displaced over 1 million in Lebanon, according to Lebanese authorities.
Hezbollah's attacks have killed at least 12 Israeli soldiers and two civilians, according to Israeli authorities.
Pakistan army chief visits Tehran to revive talks
Pakistan's army chief, Asim Munir, a key mediator in talks between the U.S. and Iran, was in Iran's capital Tehran Thursday to secure a second round of U.S.-Iran negotiations ahead of April 22, the deadline of the tenuous two-week ceasefire.
Pakistan, which holds strong diplomatic relations with both the U.S. and Iran, has emerged as a key mediator in negotiations between the two countries.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt stressed the point on Wednesday, saying the Pakistanis "are the only mediator in this negotiation" and the president felt it's important to streamline the process through them.
Vice President Vance, Washington's lead negotiator, said a major sticking point that led to the breakdown in Saturday's talks was Iran's refusal to commit to abandoning its nuclear ambitions.
"The simple fact is that we need to see an affirmative commitment that they will not seek a nuclear weapon, and they will not seek the tools that would enable them to quickly achieve a nuclear weapon," Vance said.
Iran, under its 10-point negotiation plan, demanded an end to Israel's attacks against the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah as part of any permanent agreement. Other demands from the Iranian delegation included the release of $6 billion in frozen assets, guarantees around its nuclear program and the right to charge ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran's military threatens to block key shipping routes
Iran's military warned it will retaliate by blocking other important shipping routes if the U.S. blockade of the Strait of Hormuz continues.
Maj. Gen. Ali Abdollahi Aliabadi, the commander of Iran's top military command center, renewed threats on Wednesday to halt all trade in the Persian Gulf, the Gulf of Oman and the Red Sea in retaliation for U.S. blockade of Iranian ports.
Of particular concern is Bab el-Mandeb, a narrow waterway in the Red Sea for vessels sailing between Europe and Asia. Iranian-aligned Houthi militias in Yemen control much of the coastline near the Bab al Mandeb. Houthis disrupted shipping in that passage during the height of the Gaza war.
Another route that could be in jeopardy if Iran retaliates is a pipeline that Saudi Arabia has used just after the Iran war began on Feb. 28 to divert crude oil from the Persian Gulf to the Red Sea.
A top aide to Iran's supreme leader said Thursday Iran would sink U.S. ships if Trump tries to "police" the Strait of Hormuz and that he'd welcome a ground invasion as a chance to hold U.S. soldiers hostage.
Mohsen Rezaee, a former commander-in-chief of Iran's Revolutionary Guard, told the Iranian Fars news agency he is personally opposed to a ceasefire, and that Iran is prepared for a prolonged conflict with the United States.
Feelings are mixed among the Iranian public about the possibility of a ceasefire. Many say they welcome an end to the war, but critics of the regime say keeping a hardline government in place will lead to a harsher crackdown on dissent and personal freedoms.
In this voice note shared with NPR, a carpenter in the city of Rasht, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he fears for his safety, said he thinks it's a good sign that Iran has sat at the negotiating table at all. But many, he says — are fed up with and how long the process has taken. It makes people's hopelessness even worse, he said.
Daniel Estrin in Tel Aviv, Israel, Kat Lonsdorf and Jawad Rizkallah in Beirut, Aya Batrawy in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Ahmed Abuhamda in Cairo, Rebecca Rosman in London, Jackie Northam in Maine, Danielle Kurtzleben, Tina Kraja and Alex Leff in Washington contributed to this report.
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