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  • 8 hours ago
Israel and Lebanon have reached a ten-day ceasefire, bringing relief and uncertainty. US President Trump says he will host the leaders of the two countries for talks. And he says he's confident the original theater of this Middle Eastern war--Iran--will see a lasting peace soon too. But fundamental differences in the two sides' positions remain--and the lack of results from a first round of talks suggests a difficult road to peace.
Transcript
00:02Fireworks in Beirut after weeks of violence, as a ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon arrives.
00:08Lebanon says over 2,100 people have died in Israeli attacks on its territory since this front in the Middle
00:15East opened on March 2nd.
00:19Now, for 10 days at least, Qaum could return to the country, with the agreement the Lebanese government will rein
00:26in Iranian-proxy Hezbollah.
00:28Amid celebrations like this one, though, there is uncertainty.
00:34If they want to withdraw from there, from our area, from the south, from the villages on the front, then
00:40we've accomplished a great deal.
00:41But if they don't withdraw, what will we have accomplished?
00:45We'll still be in the same place, and worse still.
00:48Before, we had houses we could come and go to, but now we don't.
00:52U.S. President Donald Trump, whose government mediated the ceasefire,
00:56says he expects Hezbollah to act, quote, nicely during the ceasefire.
01:03But in Israel, where Hezbollah attacks have killed two civilians,
01:07there is mistrust of the Iranian-backed group, as well as happiness about the ceasefire.
01:12I am happy to go back to some kind of normalcy, but at the same time, I don't really believe
01:19a terror organization like Hezbollah will actually obey the rules of a ceasefire, as we have seen many times before.
01:29Trump is optimistic. He says he's invited the leaders of Lebanon and Israel to the White House for talks.
01:36He's also bullish on the original theater of this war, Iran.
01:41He says talks with the country could resume as soon as this weekend.
01:45He even says he might travel to mediator Pakistan in person to seal a final deal.
01:58But a first round of talks there ended without a breakthrough.
02:02A ceasefire with Iran is set to expire.
02:05And both sides still disagree on everything from Iran's enrichment of uranium to its control over the Hormuz Strait.
02:11The Middle East has time to catch its breath, but a lasting peace hasn't arrived.
02:17Andy Xue and John Van Trieste for Taiwan Plus.
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