A chorus of global officials denounced the attacks Thursday and demanded Lebanon be included in the ceasefire.

“That escalation that we saw from Israel yesterday was deeply damaging, and we want to see an end to hostilities,” British Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper told Times Radio.

It is “hard to argue” the strikes were carried out in self-defense, European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said on X, while French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said the attacks were “intolerable” and stressed that “Lebanon must absolutely be covered by this truce.”

Iranian officials have insisted that Lebanon was included in the ceasefire agreed to by Washington and Tehran, noting that Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Shari, a lead mediator, explicitly stated that Lebanon was included in the truce.

“There is no room for denial and backtracking,” parliamentary Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said. Continued attacks on Lebanon will bring “explicit costs and STRONG responses,” he said on X.

Trump asked Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a phone call Wednesday to scale back Israel’s strikes in Lebanon to help ensure the success of the Iran negotiations, a senior administration official said.

While the Trump administration and Israel have both said Lebanon is not covered by the ceasefire, Israel agreed “to be a helpful partner,” the official said.

Netanyahu said Thursday he was seeking “open direct negotiations with Lebanon as soon as possible,” which would focus on disarming Hezbollah and establishing peaceful relations between Israel and Lebanon, even as the Israeli military issued new evacuation orders for entire Beirut neighborhoods.

American officials continue to deny that Lebanon was included in the deal. Vice President JD Vance, set to lead Trump’s team in the talks, said Lebanon was a “legitimate misunderstanding” and that Iran would be “dumb” to let talks collapse over it.

Lebanese ‘feel betrayed’

Israel’s ongoing attacks sent shock waves across Lebanon, where a national day of mourning was declared Thursday.

“I feel betrayed and devastated,” said Marwan Saleh, a student of law and international affairs at the Lebanese University’s Beirut campus.