What to know as Israel and Hezbollah reach ceasefire; U.S.-Iran talks delayed

[00:00:00]Let's start with that breaking news as we watch the war with Iran. A ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah is holding now after back-and-forth strikes between them ramped up overnight. Look at that.

[00:00:10]If you live in the region, this was your view looking towards the south. Now, Lebanon says Israeli strikes killed 18.

[00:00:17]The Israeli military says four of its soldiers died in those same blasts. The fighting prompted this warning from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who said, "Israel will not tolerate attacks on our soldiers or our territory." And he says it will exact a very heavy price from Hezbollah for these attacks.

[00:00:36]He went on to write, "As I have made clear unequivocally, Israel will remain in the security zone in southern Lebanon as long as necessary to protect the northern communities." Close quote. So, let's break this down. CBS News contributor Robert Berger joins us live from Jerusalem where this is all the talk today. So, Robert, what do people in Israel have to say about whether that ceasefire holds, especially after such intense strikes overnight?

[00:01:00]>> Uh there's enormous skepticism in Israel about this ceasefire. Just, you know, keep in mind that uh fighting between Israel and Hezbollah has been going on off and on with quite a number of ceasefires in between that simply haven't held since October 8th, 2023, a day after the Hamas massacre inside Israel. Uh the the problem now is that you also have Israeli troops on the ground in South Lebanon. Uh they've moved in because tens of thousands of Israelis have been moved out of their homes because of Hezbollah rocket and drone attacks on the northern border.

[00:01:40]So, uh you know, the ceasefires haven't held, and it really doesn't take a whole lot to upset one, which is what we just saw in the past 24 hours when Hezbollah carried out an ambush against Israeli troops and killed four soldiers, and then Israel responded with dozens of air strikes. So, this is a fragile ceasefire to say the least and probably we have some rough sailing ahead.

[00:02:05]>> Tricky business indeed. Is it your take that political pressure on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu may have encouraged this?

[00:02:12]>> Yeah, absolutely. I mean, Netanyahu doesn't want this ceasefire because his goal is to Hezbollah. And Israel has been making gains on the battlefield against Hezbollah.

[00:02:24]And as I mentioned to you, you have tens of thousands of Israelis who have had to flee their homes in northern Israel.

[00:02:29]That is not a popular thing. It's not good for Netanyahu politically with an election coming up in a few months.

[00:02:36]And so, you know, he would like to the group so that it can't carry out these attacks, but we've seen a lot of pressure from President Trump and Vice President Pence just in the past few days in which they've partially criticized Israel for its actions in Lebanon, accusing Netanyahu of bad judgment and of an excessive use of force. So, that's put Netanyahu in an uncomfortable position.

[00:03:03]He's not in a a position to say no to Israel's guardian ally. So, he's gone along with this ceasefire reluctantly even as Hezbollah continues to pose a threat on Israel's northern border.

[00:03:16]>> All right, watching it all from Jerusalem. Robert Berger, thank you so much for taking the time to talk to us on CBS News 24/7. We're also following this breaking bit of news. Land talks between Iran and the US, they're off for now. Those discussions were supposed to kick off a 60-day period of negotiations laid out in that memorandum of understanding that you just saw President Trump signing at Versailles.

[00:03:37]The White House has not said when they plan to reschedule those. So, let's talk about that. Live at the White House and CBS News correspondent Natalie Brand.

[00:03:44]So, Natalie, Israel, Hezbollah, they have since agreed to that ceasefire that Robert was just talking about, but do you see from the White House perspective that the strikes overnight had anything to do with the delay between the US and the negotiations on the nuclear front with Iran?

[00:04:00]>> And Reed, we've seen this play out before that the flare-ups between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah have complicated these larger negotiations between the US and Iran. And in fact, the Associated Press was reporting that Iranian officials did not travel as planned to Switzerland ahead of today saying that the fighting in Lebanon must stop. And remember point one, paragraph one of the tentative agreement, the memorandum of understanding said that military operations must be terminated on all fronts, including in Lebanon.

[00:04:33]Now, the White House statement in announcing that the Vice President would not travel to Switzerland late last night as planned said that there, you know, the plans have not been finalized on these upcoming technical talks noting that logistics over these negotiations have never been simple or predictable.

[00:04:53]But adding, quote, we look forward to beginning technical talks as soon as possible. Unclear again when that will be and we're waiting for an update from the White House. But new this hour, Reed, an Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson put out a new statement saying that consultations are ongoing through mediators regarding the next phase of these talks, that 60-day window that began earlier this week according to the White House. And said that the public would be informed if and when the necessary conditions for launching negotiations are met. But he also said that because the MOU was already signed by the president and the Iranian uh President Trump and the Iranian president that there is no longer urgency around the meeting in Switzerland and said that there is planning underway for a direct meeting between the two sides perhaps in the coming days. So a lot of moving parts to continue to follow.

[00:05:48]>> That's right. And we understand that there's some reporting in Axios with President Trump. Does that give any sort of foreshadowing of what's ahead, Natalie?

[00:05:56]>> [snorts] >> What was interesting read in this new interview with Axios, the president acknowledged that he negotiated the deal to keep the war from turning into a global economic depression. That's also something he alluded to during his news conference at the G7 summit. And he was also asked what he learned from the war and if he has any limits and he made kind of a headline grabbing statement.

[00:06:25]Let's take a listen.

[00:06:27]>> What have you learned about not just the exercise of power, but the limits on your power as a result of the conflict?

[00:06:33]>> There are no limits.

[00:06:34]>> No limits?

[00:06:35]>> No, not I haven't learned that lesson yet. I know there are, but you know, there are no limits. We defeated them totally militarily.

[00:06:46]>> Now, this statement comes a lot of criticism amid a lot of criticism from Capitol Hill and bipartisan backlash to, you know, the tentative agreement that's been negotiated so far and a lot of skepticism over what is going to happen in the next 60 days during this more complicated phase two when discussions begin in earnest on the future of Iran's nuclear program, the US's desire to curb all enrichment, you know, some Democratic lawmakers read are calling the war a failure and even Republicans are critical about what they know of this initial agreement so far, particularly the economic relief that it would deliver to Iran. You know, the White House argues that that would be based on good behavior, but there's a lot of skepticism that the next 60 days will produce a final agreement, Reed.

[00:07:36]>> All right, Natalie Brand live from the White House. Thank you so much. Good to talk to you.