JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:
The announcement of a two-week ceasefire between the United States and Iran has brought mixed feelings across the Middle East, some relief, some anger and lots of uncertainty. Israel unleashed its biggest attacks in Lebanon since the war began, killing more than 250 people Wednesday, according to the Lebanese government. In response, Iran says it's closed the Strait of Hormuz. There's been a lot of confusion in the region about the parameters of the ceasefire and why Israel is still attacking. Joining us now are two NPR international correspondents. Daniel Estrin is in Tel Aviv and Lauren Frayer in Beirut. Hi there.
DANIEL ESTRIN, BYLINE: Hi, Juana.
LAUREN FRAYER, BYLINE: Good evening.
SUMMERS: Lauren, I'd like to start with you if we can. Beirut shook with explosions today. The Israeli military says it struck 100 times in just 10 minutes. What has today been like for you?
FRAYER: There was a roar of warplanes. The city shook with explosions. I happened to be walking past a hospital. And doctors and nurses ran out into the street, all eyes sort of skyward, and then these big booms of the impact. Israel issued evacuation warnings for Beirut's southern suburbs, but then hit areas outside of that, like in central Beirut where I am, including near the seaside Corniche promenade.
Ambulances have been racing around hospitals asking for blood donation. You know, more than 1 million Lebanese have already been displaced by Israel's invasion. And Beirut has really swelled with all of these people fleeing attacks farther south, and some of them are being killed here now. I was on my way to interview some of those displaced people when I heard those warplanes sort of tear across the sky.
SUMMERS: What are people telling you?
FRAYER: Like many of us, they also stayed up all night waiting for President Trump's deadline, rejoiced at the announcement of a ceasefire, and then had their hopes shattered by today's attacks. I visited a family that fled Beirut's southern suburbs six weeks ago and have been sheltering in a vacant building in central Beirut. Here's Rama Dimashk. She's a 29-year-old math teacher. And she describes this roller coaster night of emotions.
RAMA DIMASHK: We were very happy. We stayed awake until 4 a.m. Then we go to sleep. And when we woke up, Netanyahu said the ceasefire does not include Lebanon. So that, we were very depressed. And then we heard the bombs, and the children were very afraid.
FRAYER: You know, in some cases, people were literally packing their stuff, even heading south, driving home when these attacks hit. And they had to turn back. The Dimashk family has relatives who left to head home, then turned back, and then the part of Beirut where they were sheltering was hit.
Just a note about the geography of sort of this front of the war - until today, there have been very few Israeli strikes in central Beirut. The bulk of the attacks and the fighting has been in Beirut's southern suburbs, where Hezbollah has offices. And in the south of the country, along the Israeli border where Israel says it wants to create what it calls a buffer or security zone so that Hezbollah can't fire rockets into northern Israel. But today's attacks, really in the heart of the capital, are fueling fear that no one and nowhere is safe.
SUMMERS: Daniel, to you. What is Israel's rationale for these attacks in Lebanon after a ceasefire was declared in Iran?
ESTRIN: Yeah, Pakistan's prime minister announced that Lebanon was supposed to be part of the ceasefire. And then Prime Minister Netanyahu in Israel announced hours later Lebanon was not part of the deal. And even after the ceasefire was declared, Iran said one of its oil facilities was attacked. And then four countries in the Gulf said Iran attacked their oil and gas facilities, and power stations and desalination plants. So, you know, despite a declared ceasefire, we've seen violence throughout the region.
And just listening to Lauren describe the ambulances and the sense of panic in Beirut is such a contrast to the voices we heard from Israeli military officials today boasting about their attacks in Lebanon, targeting around a hundred Hezbollah sites in a span of 10 minutes, they told us. Israel's army is calling it Operation Eternal Darkness. Hezbollah has not, as of now, returned fire. But there is a domestic reason, I think, happening here, which is that Prime Minister Netanyahu wants to show the Israeli public he's finishing the job. He's not ending early. He's been under a lot of pressure to show Israelis in the north near Lebanon that he's doing everything he can to keep them safe.
SUMMERS: Do you have a sense of how Israelis are feeling today about the ceasefire deal that President Trump announced?
ESTRIN: We spoke with Israelis today at a cafe about it and not hearing a lot of satisfaction. Some Israelis don't see the point of this war, like one man, Uri Smollihe (ph), who told us he just thinks the ceasefire won't last, and sooner or later, he'll be back in shelters.
URI SMOLLIHE: I don't think it will last so long. But we need to enjoy our time without any alarms and any sirens ringing, you know, to have a few peaceful nights.
ESTRIN: We also spoke with someone who supported the war, Yuval Kristal.
YUVAL KRISTAL: (speaking Hebrew)
ESTRIN: She's saying she woke up really angry and frustrated. She feels like everything was for nothing and that both Netanyahu and Trump came out as huge losers. And she says it's just a matter of time before Iran can attack Israel again. And she just wished Israel would, as she said, finish the job now.
You know, Netanyahu was on TV this evening defending the ceasefire. But Israel's opposition leader says this was Israel's biggest diplomatic failure in history, that Israel has failed to achieve its objectives in the war with the Iranian regime not defeated. This is going to be a huge issue that will play for months to come as Israel gears up for national elections.
SUMMERS: And, Lauren, given the massive violence in Lebanon today, what does this mean for the ceasefire in the wider Middle East?
FRAYER: Well, Iran's foreign minister just posted on social media about what he called massacres in Lebanon. He pointed to the Pakistani prime minister's initial description of the ceasefires including Lebanon and said the ball is in the U.S.'s court, that the world is watching. The White House has said it does not consider Lebanon to be part of this ceasefire. President Trump told PBS he considers it, quote, a "separate skirmish."
The White House says Vice President Vance is heading to Pakistan for talks Friday about this ceasefire. As Daniel mentioned, Pakistan helped negotiate this ceasefire. But Iran has suggested those talks might be canceled because of today's violence. And Iranian media also say that Iran has now closed the Strait of Hormuz. The White House cast doubt on that, you know, says it would be unacceptable if true. But remember, you know, Trump said that the point of this ceasefire is to get that waterway open because so much of the world's oil supply goes through it.
SUMMERS: NPR's Lauren Frayer in Beirut and Daniel Estrin in Tel Aviv. Thanks to both of you.
ESTRIN: You're welcome.
FRAYER: You're welcome. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.
