On Wednesday, US President Donald Trump and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian electronically signed a memorandum of understanding for peace.
The memorandum is intended to pave the way for ending the conflict launched by the US and Israel against Iran on February 28 as well as reopening the Strait of Hormuz.
The memorandum calls for an immediate halt to military operations on all fronts, including Lebanon, but makes no direct reference to Gaza, where Israel’s genocide since 2023 has left nearly 80,000 Palestinians dead, almost the entire population of 2.3 million people displaced, and 90 percent of the infrastructure destroyed or damaged.
Analysts state the death toll from Israel’s genocide is severely under-reported, with the actual figure potentially reaching 200,000 Palestinians killed or wounded.
Israeli occupation forces currently occupy more than half of Gaza, threatening to seize further territory.
Israeli troops in Gaza have killed 1,005 Palestinians in the eight months since a ceasefire was reached between Israel and Hamas, the Gaza Health Ministry said on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, the Israeli invasion of Lebanon is threatening to derail the US-Iran peace deal. On Friday, Israeli forces killed at least 50 Lebanese people, including many civilians, after Hezbollah killed four occupying Israeli soldiers in southern Lebanon.
