ADRIAN FLORIDO, HOST:
President Trump says he will decide soon on a proposal to extend a ceasefire with Iran. But how soon could that really be? The two sides still seem far apart on core issues, and Iran has said any ceasefire with the U.S. must include Lebanon, where Israel is ramping up its attacks despite a ceasefire. NPR's Jane Arraf joins us now from Beirut. And a warning - you will hear disturbing audio of a child injured in this war. Hi, Jane.
JANE ARRAF, BYLINE: Hi there.
FLORIDO: Jane, let's start with Iran. We've heard now a couple of times from the White House that an agreement for ending the war is close. What might the agreement that Trump says he's weighing include, and what is the holdup?
ARRAF: Well, it's meant to extend a ceasefire - agreed in April - for another 60 days, and the key issue seems to be money. U.S. sanctions prevent Iran from selling oil, and they've also frozen billions of dollars in Iranian assets. Iran is insisting that the U.S. unfreeze some of those funds, and it also insists on retaining control of the Strait of Hormuz. This initial agreement, if it's signed, provides for further talks on the nuclear issue. And specifically there, the issue is Iran's stocks of highly enriched uranium. Iran wants to keep them. The U.S. insists that it send them out of the country.
FLORIDO: Israel today issued more warnings of possible attacks on villages in Southern Lebanon, and it warned communities in northern Israel to expect more Hezbollah attacks. What is going on here?
ARRAF: Well, Lebanon is part of that Iran equation. Iran has said any ceasefire with the U.S. has to include an end to the war in Lebanon, where Israel has invaded and is fighting Hezbollah, the militant group that Iran backs. In the past week, Israel has taken over more territory in Southern Lebanon, and it's intensified strikes. Almost the entire South has been displaced. Just to give you an indication of this, U.N. peacekeepers who track ceasefire violations say, since last Sunday, Israeli forces have launched more than 3,000 strikes. That's compared with 187 launched by Hezbollah and its allies.
FLORIDO: Lebanon is a small country, and it was already in a state of economic and political crisis even before this war started. How is Lebanon coping with everything that is happening now?
ARRAF: It's really tough. Lebanon's Ministry of Health says at least 3,300 people have been killed since the war began, and about 20% of those are women, children or first responders and medics, according to the health ministry. Israel says Hezbollah attacks have killed two civilians and 23 soldiers plus a military contractor.
Children have borne a lot of the brunt of this. UNICEF said on Friday that there were an average of 11 children killed or injured every 24 hours in the attacks. And those included, on Friday, a Syrian refugee family of eight in which six young children died when an Israeli drone hit their vehicle. Israel did not respond to questions as to who it was targeting. We spoke recently with Dr. Ghassan Abu-Sittah, a surgeon who works in conflict zones. We caught up with him as he was treating a child injured by shrapnel from an airstrike.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: (Non-English language spoken, crying).
ARRAF: He says Israeli airstrikes on medics and ambulances is also affecting children's survival rates.
GHASSAN ABU-SITTAH: We know there are kids who've died being stuck in small hospitals that couldn't treat them and couldn't be moved.
ARRAF: Israel has killed at least 160 first responders since March, according to Lebanon's Ministry of Health.
FLORIDO: Well, Jane, thank you so much for your reporting. That is NPR's Jane Arraf in Beirut.
ARRAF: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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