Israel, Lebanon extend ceasefire as Trump seeks 'best deal' with Iran

DUBAI/WASHINGTON, April 24 (Reuters): Israel and Lebanon extended their ceasefire for three weeks at a meeting at the White House brokered by US President Donald Trump, who said he was prepared to wait for "the best deal" to end his conflict with Iran.
Fighting between Israel and the Iranian-backed armed group Hezbollah in Lebanon has been one of a number of sticking points to resolving the wider eight-week regional conflict, along with Iran's nuclear ambitions and control of the crucial Strait of Hormuz.
A day after Iran flaunted its tight grip over the strait, a key shipping corridor through which around a fifth of the world's oil and liquefied natural gas usually transits, Trump dismissed the threat posed by Iran's "little wise-guy ships".
He said he believed Tehran was hamstrung from making a deal because its leadership was in turmoil, after several senior political and military figures were killed in US-Israeli strikes that began on February 28.
On Thursday, he said the US could knock out in a day any refurbishing of weapons that Iran may have made during a ceasefire in place since April 8.
But navigation in the passage remained effectively blocked, and the Iranian capture of two huge cargo ships was a reminder that Tehran can still cause trouble for oil markets and pose major strains to the global economy.
Trump said this week he would indefinitely extend what had been a two-week ceasefire with Iran to allow for further peace talks, which have yet to be scheduled.
"Don't rush me," he said when asked how long he was willing to wait for a long-term peace deal. "I want to make the best deal ... I want to have it everlasting."
He ruled out the use of nuclear weapons, telling reporters they were unnecessary because the US had "decimated" Iran with conventional arms.
"No, I wouldn't use it. A nuclear weapon should never be allowed to be used by anybody," Trump said when asked by a reporter at the White House.
Peace talks that had been tentatively scheduled for Pakistan collapsed earlier this week, with neither side showing up. The Pakistani capital remained in lockdown on Friday, but there were no indications the talks would be revived soon.
According to The Financial Times, Lebanese militant group Hizbollah said the US-brokered pause in hostilities with Israel was "meaningless", a day after US President Donald Trump extended it by three weeks after hosting direct talks between Lebanese and Israeli ambassadors.
Hizbollah lawmaker Ali Fayyad said: "It is essential to point out that the ceasefire is meaningless in light of Israel's insistence on hostile acts, including assassinations, shelling and gunfire", as well as its demolition of villages and towns in the south and refusal to withdraw from Lebanese territory.
Israel and Hizbollah continued to trade fire overnight, although hostilities were at a much lower level than prior to the ceasefire.