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Episode details

World Service,10 Apr 2026,23 mins

Hopes for a 'fragile' Middle East ceasefire

BBC Conversations

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The week began with a threat from US President Donald Trump that a ‘whole civilisation would die’, and it ended with peace talks. We bring together people from across the Middle East to share their experiences of the past few days. We hear from Iranians in the UK tracking explosions near their family homes in Iran, and Israelis divided by the latest ceasefire. With peace talks due to get underway this weekend in Pakistan, the US Vice President, JD Vance, described the ceasefire as a ‘fragile truce’. Meanwhile, as Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said there is ‘no ceasefire in Lebanon’ we hear from people in the country where air strikes have intensified. “I was in a normal café with young people working and a strike hit just a few hundred metres away, maybe less,” Nada, a journalist in Beirut tells us. “Civilians are directly impacted and affected by the strikes, I don’t even understand why they’re striking anymore. Presenter: James Reynolds BBC producers: Anjolaoluwa, Ben Davis and Mimi Fawaz Boffin Media producer: Richard Hollingham Editors: Arja Haikonen and Harriet Oliver A Boffin Media production in partnership with the BBC World Service Outside Source team. (Photo: Houthi supporters demonstrate in solidarity with Iran, amid a two-week ceasefire between US and Iran. Credit: Khaled Abdullah/Reuters)

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