The United States and Iran have signed a Memorandum of Understanding that aims to end the war the US and Israel launched on Iran on Feb. 28. The 14-point agreement, signed by Donald Trump at a June 17 gathering hosted by French President Emmanuel Macron in the Palace of Versailles—where the treaty to end World War I was signed in 1919—opens up the Strait of Hormuz for a 60-day ceasefire window, during which the two sides have vowed to negotiate a long-term resolution to the Iranian nuclear standoff. The US will also terminate all sanctions against Iran, provide $300 billion for post-war reconstruction, and unlock all frozen Iranian funds and assets.

The nearly four months of war killed at least 7,300 people in Iran and Lebanon, including more than 100 Iranian schoolgirls on the first day of the fighting. Israel, the other belligerent, has lashed out at Washington over the deal, while continuing to attack Lebanon. The Israeli cabinet's harsh words towards Washington led to a strong rebuke from US Vice President JD Vance. In an initial sign of the still-rocky road ahead, Vance's trip to Switzerland on June 19 for talks on implementing the deal was abruptly cancelled.

Despite—or possibly because of—the signing of the MoU, which is supposed to include an end to fighting in Lebanon, the fighting there has flared again. The Israeli military reportedly killed 18 people in south Lebanon overnight on June 18-19. The rash of air-strikes followed Hezbollah's killing of four Israeli soldiers in a southern Lebanese village, prompting furious statements from politicians such as Israeli's extreme-right interior security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who said "all of Lebanon must burn."

Meanwhile, Amnesty International released a report finding that Israel has radically expanded its mass "evacuation" orders as well as "don't come back" orders, which it says "have been used as a deliberate tool to forcibly displace civilians" and prevent many of them from returning home. This, the rights watchdog says, amounts to "unlawful transfer," which is a violation of the Geneva Conventions and a war crime.

From The New Humanitarian, June 19. Lightly edited; internal links added.