I'm John Batser, Bill Rajah, a senior fellow for the Foundation for Defensive Democracy.

Bill keeps the

Long War Journal where you can see daily, weekly, reporting by David Dayud on Lebanon. David,

a very good evening to you. A lot of conflicting headlines these last days. The word ceasefire comes

up. Is there a ceasefire in place? What is the nature of the ceasefire, given the threat of

Hezbollah ongoing, for re-arming, for reawakening its structure, and for peppering the northern

frontier of Israel in order to keep people from coming back to their homes? Good evening to you.

Good evening, John. Well, there is a ceasefire,

and it's one that is much more restrictive than the last ceasefire that went into effect on

November 27th of 2024. As you recall, during the 15 months when that ceasefire was operative,

the Israelis were conducting near daily operations in Lebanon, daily policing activities.

But beyond the policing, daily operations in Lebanon targeted killings, strikes and Hezbollah assets.

It seems like this ceasefire is going to operate differently, both from the text of the ceasefire agreement itself,

which permits Israeli self-defense only in much more restrictive context than the last one.

And if it wasn't clear, because there was some dispute about, you know, whether any time,

it says at any time Israel may engage in self-defense except only in response to, I think,

it was imminent planned attacks that are like in the offing, not something that, you know,

is more distant. And if there is any doubt about that the next day when offing, not something that, you know, is more distant.

And if there was any doubt about that the next day when the Israelis, I think they conducted a drone

strike or an artillery strike in Vintesh Beel, there was basically some attempt to restore

the status quo that the Israelis had in the prior 15 months.

And President Trump put out a post on truth social, saying the Israelis are prohibited in all caps from bombing Lebanon any longer by the USA.

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