President Trump says the U.S. and Iran have reached an initial agreement to end the war, the first steps in a deal with the regime. That agreement appears to include a ceasefire in Israeli strikes. But that country’s defense minister says forces will not withdraw from Lebanon. As Stephanie Sy reports, Israelis say they’re caught in the middle of a bad deal and constant fighting.Notice: Transcripts are machine and human generated and lightly edited for accuracy. They may contain errors.
William Brangham:
The memorandum signed by the U.S. and Iran has little to do with the third combatant in this war, Israel. Top officials there expressed dismay and even derision for the deal and, as we reported, a key part of what is not in this initial agreement, the Israeli occupation of Southern Lebanon.There, Israel continues to fight Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed militant group, despite a cease-fire that neither side is honoring. Now Israelis say they are caught in the middle between a bad deal and constant fighting.Here's Stephanie Sy.
Stephanie Sy:
The distant shrieks in the sky from incoming rockets, the air raid sirens, the trudge to below-ground shelters becoming almost mundane in Northern Israel.Israel says nearly 30 of its soldiers and four civilians have died in fighting with Hezbollah. Across the border in Lebanon, nearly 4,000 have been killed. The cycle of violence has become all too familiar, and it's unclear whether the framework agreement for peace struck over the weekend between the U.S. and Iran will end it.
