Key moments
- Markets advance on hopes of a peace agreement
The President of the United States, Donald Trump, said early this morning that “the leaders” of Israel and Lebanon will speak this Thursday, amid talks between the two countries to reach a ceasefire, mediated by the US. The Republican does not specify whom he is referring to. “We are trying to give some breathing space between Israel and Lebanon. It has been a long time since the two leaders have spoken, like 34 years. It will happen tomorrow. Great!”, Trump says in a message posted on Wednesday night (early Thursday morning in Spain) on his Truth Social account. However, Lebanon denies “having knowledge” of any imminent contact with Israel, according to AFP. The ambassadors of both countries met on Tuesday and the governments agreed to meet again. Meanwhile, the Israeli army and the Shiite movement Hezbollah have resumed violent clashes in recent hours on the southern Lebanon border.
Read more China dodges the effects of the war in Iran with 5% growth in the first quarter
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WHO reports nearly 90 deaths in Israeli attacks on Lebanese hospitals since the start of the war
The World Health Organization (WHO) has reported that since the start of the war in Lebanon, at least 88 people have died and more than 206 have been injured in 133 Israeli attacks on hospitals and health centers. Additionally, 15 hospitals have been damaged in attacks and another 5 have had to close, according to a statement published by WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
The organization calls for the “immediate protection” of healthcare facilities, their staff, equipment, and vehicles — last Friday the WHO denounced that Israel was targeting Lebanese ambulances, something confirmed by the Israeli forces themselves — as well as unrestricted access for humanitarian aid to the region.
The Israeli army orders another evacuation of southern Lebanon
The Arabic spokesperson for the Israeli armed forces, Avichay Adraee, has asked the population to move north of the Zahrani River, in southern Lebanon, stating that it is Hezbollah’s activities in the region that “force” the Israel Defense Forces to act “forcefully in that area.”
Lebanon says it “has no knowledge” of any imminent contact with Israel
Lebanon stated this Thursday that it “has no knowledge” of any imminent contact with Israel, according to AFP, after US President Donald Trump said that “leaders” of both countries would speak this Thursday. The Republican did not specify whom he was referring to.
editorial
Israel and Lebanon talk
In a regional Middle East landscape where there are barely any advances, the fact that for the first time since 1948 Israel and Lebanon have sat down to negotiate directly, in Washington and under the auspices of the US State Department, is in itself positive. However, that the dialogue takes place while the Israeli military offensive continues — with bombings over much of Lebanese territory and an Israeli plan to occupy the south of the country and expel its population — and that there is a clear disparity of views on the very goal of the negotiation, not only diminishes its value but unfortunately places it more in the realm of a declaration of intent than a truly effective milestone.
You can read the full editorial here
Israel and Hezbollah continue clashes on the border amid possible negotiations
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and the Lebanese Shiite movement Hezbollah resumed “violent clashes” early this morning on the southern Lebanon border, while US President Donald Trump announced that “the leaders” of both countries will speak today.
The fighting took place in the southern city of Bint Jbeil, according to the official Lebanese news agency (NNA), which also reports various bombings in several towns, including Al Habbarieh, where a civilian death was recorded.
Israeli forces demolished homes in Bint Jbeil, attacked the Burj al Shemali Palestinian refugee camp, and bombed the city of Tebnine, causing severe damage to its hospital.
The Shiite group Hezbollah, cited by NNA, has claimed seven new attacks on military positions such as barracks, logistics bases, and radars in northern Israel or combat zones, except for one in the Golan Heights, Syrian territory occupied by the Israeli army since 1967. (Efe)
NETWORK OF NETWORKS
The Iran war did not take place
In 1991, the French philosopher Jean Baudrillard published a book titled The Gulf War Did Not Take Place. The text was heavily criticized: it was seen as one of the main examples of the absurd drift of French postmodernism by minimizing the suffering of the war with an approach that did not even help to understand why Iraq invaded Kuwait and what the reasons for the US response were.
You can read the full column here
Donald Trump
Catholic sectors revolt against Trump, who insists on associating himself with Jesus Christ and criticizes the Pope
With the embers of the scandal over the publication and subsequent deletion of an image of him in the manner of Jesus Christ still hot, the President of the United States, Donald Trump, played again this Wednesday the provocation with blasphemous tones. It was on his social network, Truth, where he reproduced the message of a user from X with a drawing of Jesus hugging the president, who shows a transcendental expression. It came from an account called Irish for Trump, apparently owned by a Republican candidate from Massachusetts who did not pass the 2024 primaries, and Trump accompanied it with the following message: “Maybe the Radical Left Crazies don’t like it, but I think [the meme] is pretty nice!!!”.
You can read the full information here
Markets advance on hopes of a peace agreement and corporate earnings
Investors are returning to equities despite persistent uncertainty about the course of the war in Iran and with oil stable at $95 a barrel. Expectations are growing that the US and Iran will continue negotiations and work to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, while Donald Trump says that “the two leaders” of Lebanon and Israel will speak this Thursday. Global markets reached new all-time highs yesterday and gains continue today. Japan’s Nikkei adds more than 2% and hits a new record, while China’s Shanghai index gains 0.5% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng adds more than 1%. US futures point to moderate rises, as do those of the EuroStoxx 50 in Europe. Traders are betting on a de-escalation of the Middle East conflict that will lower oil prices and boost economic growth. A source informed by Tehran told Reuters that Iran might consider allowing ships to sail freely on the Omani side of the Strait of Hormuz without risk of attack as part of proposals offered in negotiations with the US. Brent crude is stable at $95, well below last month’s high of nearly $120. As tensions in Iran ease, the dollar — which had become the preferred refuge during the conflict — weakens. The euro rises slightly to near its highest level since the war began at $1.1809.
OPINION
The Hormuz blockade goes from bad (Iran) to worse (United States)
Today we would not be so worried about the situation in the Strait of Hormuz if Donald Trump had not made the tremendous mistake of embarking (hand in hand with Benjamin Netanyahu) on an illegal war that has achieved none of its objectives. And if before Tehran counted on its controversial nuclear program as its main bargaining chip, it now adds control of the strait as an even more powerful lever to continue resisting the onslaught. Aware that militarily it cannot defeat its aggressors, it has found in the selective disruption of maritime traffic through those waters the most effective method to punish the entire planet, fantasizing that pressure on Washington will allow it to come out even stronger from an unwanted conflict. For his part, Trump, desperate to get out of the hole he has gotten himself into, now imposes a blockade that, by economically strangling his enemy, continues to seek his surrender.
You can read the full opinion here
The message from US President Donald Trump this Thursday on Truth.
Trump says “the leaders” of Israel and Lebanon will speak this Thursday
The President of the United States, Donald Trump, said early this morning that “the leaders” of Israel and Lebanon will speak this Thursday, amid talks between the two countries to reach a ceasefire, mediated by the US.
“We are trying to give some breathing space between Israel and Lebanon. It has been a long time since the two leaders have spoken, like 34 years. It will happen tomorrow. Great!”, Trump says on his Truth Social account.
This announcement, which does not specify whom he refers to when talking about “leaders,” comes after the governments of both countries agreed to meet again to continue talks around a ceasefire to pause Israeli attacks on Lebanon, initiated after the war with Iran.
Last Tuesday, the Israeli ambassador to the United States, Yechiel Leiter, and his Lebanese counterpart, Nada Hamadeh Moawad, held a two-and-a-half-hour meeting in the presence of US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott later said that “all parties agreed to start direct negotiations at a mutually agreed date and place.”
The negotiations, from which the Shiite group Hezbollah was excluded, constituted the highest-level meeting between Israel and Lebanon since 1993. These talks come after six weeks of clashes between Hezbollah and Israel in Lebanese territory, which have left more than 2,000 dead and over a million displaced due to Israeli attacks and incursions, which Benjamin Netanyahu’s government justifies by the Islamist group’s rocket launches.
Israel has refused to include Lebanon in the truce that the United States declared with Iran last week and has continued attacks in Lebanese territory, including this Tuesday, while the meeting was held in Washington.
The discrepancies between the two delegations are large, as the Lebanese government calls for an immediate ceasefire to allow broader dialogue, but Israel rejects it and demands the total disarmament of Hezbollah and the creation of a “security zone” in southern Lebanon that allows it to control the strip between the border and the Litani River. (Efe)
Good morning. We start the live narration of the latest on the Middle East conflict, this Thursday, April 16. We remain attentive to the peace negotiations between the US and Iran, suspended since the weekend, and the dialogue between Israel and Lebanon to end the war.
At least ten people, two of them minors, died on Wednesday night in new Israeli bombings on different points in southern Lebanon. US President Donald Trump said early this morning that “the leaders” of Israel and Lebanon will speak this Thursday.
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