ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq - US Special Envoy for Syria Tom Barrack said Friday that a newly announced ceasefire in Lebanon remains fragile because all sides in the conflict have been “equally untrustworthy.”

On Thursday, Trump announced that a ten-day ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon will come into effect from midnight Beirut time, potentially solving a key stumbling block in the ongoing US-Iran truce.

The war in Lebanon began in early March, days after the United States and Israel launched large-scale attacks on Iran on February 28, provoking a retaliation from Lebanese Hezbollah.

Since then, Israel has launched a ground offensive into its northern neighbor and ravaged Beirut with airstrikes, killing almost 2,200 people since March 2, according to Lebanon's health ministry. The continuation of the Israeli campaign in spite of a US-Iran ceasefire has led to international protest, with Iran, as well as European countries, demanding that Lebanon be included.

Speaking at the Antalya Diplomacy Forum, Tom Barrack described the ceasefire as “so delicate” and cautioned that mistrust among the parties continues to threaten its durability.

“The ceasefire is so delicate because everybody has been equally untrustworthy,” Barrack said, adding that the agreement marks only a step toward de-escalation.

Barrack said the deal, backed by US President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, was aimed at stopping what he described as “senseless killing,” rather than establishing a comprehensive political framework.

“What happened is a step in the right direction,” he said. “We need a time out, not the definition of all the architecture around the table.”

He noted that key actors, including Hezbollah and Iran, were not part of the agreement, complicating efforts to secure a lasting settlement.

“There are two people missing from that table,” Barrack said, referring to Hezbollah and Iran. “We need a path with Hezbollah, and that path has to be not killing Hezbollah.”

Barrack praised Lebanon’s leadership, including President Joseph Aoun, Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, and parliament speaker Nabih Berri, calling them “the best set of leaders we’ve had” in his view.

Still, he stressed that the current ceasefire is only the beginning of a longer process. “Will the ceasefire stick? What we will do is baby steps to fill in those pieces and we see,” he said.