Daily Trust Editorial, April 10, 2026
A two-week ceasefire has at least temporarily halted the unnecessary and costly war of choice declared by United States and Israel against Iran on February 28, 2026, thus bringing the world away from brink. The truce provides a breathing space for hammering out a “definitive agreement concerning long-term peace with Iran, and peace in the Middle East,” according to Trump.
Indeed, under ‘Operation Epic Fury,’ the largest military campaign since 2003’s firepower of ‘shock and awe’ against Iraq, the three combatants not only inflicted serious blows on each other, but the Middle East region and the world also experienced immense human suffering, triggering devastating economic consequences.
For over six weeks, U.S. and Israeli coalition forces struck over 15,000 targets including 70% of Iranian missile launchers, hundreds of ballistic missiles, air defences with over 85% of surface ones, naval vessels with majority of fleet sunk or destroyed. They also struck bridges, railways, residential areas, synagogues and cultural sites.
The strikes also decapitated the cream of Iranian leadership, assassinating Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and top military and civilian leaders including estimated death of about over 2,000 military and 1,600+ civilian deaths, including children.
In retaliation, Iran launched thousands of projectiles at Israel and Gulf states, hitting military bases, energy infrastructure, airports, and civilian areas (ports, hotels, data centers, and residential areas), damaging refineries, LNG plants, oil terminals and gas fields, igniting fires at key hubs especially in Saudi and UAE facilities and complexes. It then blocked Strait of Hormuz, triggering disruptions and global oil shocks.
Yet, what must not be lost is that the Iran war was declared in clear violation of the United Nations Charter and international humanitarian law, which is in line with Common Article 1 of the Geneva Conventions and associated customary international law. And the conduct of U.S. and Israeli forces as well as statements by senior government officials raised serious concerns about potential war crimes.
The surprise is that Iran didn’t fold under the daily onslaught but brought a new paradigm lesson to be learned on how the weight of a combined superpower military might was thwarted by a seemingly smaller adversary faced with an asymmetric existential threat, and weakened by a disastrous economy, unfavorable regional dynamics and unrest at home.
It must also be admitted that outside the spin room, the war has no obvious victors. After all, none of US/Israel coalition’s core strategic objectives – destroying Iran’s ability to build ballistic missiles/nukes or to threaten the region and regime change were achieved. The Iranian people didn’t rise up, one hard-line leader has been replaced by his son, missiles and drones kept hitting across Middle East, Iran reopened the Strait of Hormuz with conditions and never acceded to Trump’s “unconditional surrender” demand.
We at Daily Trust first congratulate Pakistan and others who contributed to the ceasefire agreement. We urge them to go further by hammering out a permanent truce. But we insist that the final resolution of the 39-day war must anchor firmly in international law and the UN Charter that respects the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all Member States, protection of civilians and nuclear installations and navigational rights in critical maritime routes.
Moreover, it is time for world leaders to choose dialogue while adopting the principle of good-neighbourliness. The world cannot continue to witness frequent clashes and displacement and upending the lives of citizens, and destruction of critical infrastructure.
We also urge the US to focus more on being a stable, reliable, predicable actor instead of appearing as contributor to world’s instability.
Moreover, the US should also restore its credibility as a good-faith negotiator, having attacked Iran twice while in negotiations – first in June 2025 and February 28. This becomes very important as the main issue that was used to launch the February 28 war was part of the 2015 agreement between Tehran and the 5+1 powers (US, Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany) that seemingly resolved all challenges around Iran’s nuclear programme.
Going forward, global leaders must recommit to equal application of international law, away from the seeming harm to international legal order. They should also be circumspect in their conducts and threats in order not to escalate conflicts, damaging the environment and the global economy.
There should be a stop to the alarming disrespect for the rules of international humanitarian law accepted by states, and which protect both civilians and members of the armed forces. Therefore, we urge the US to renew its lead in upholding the UN Charter, international humanitarian law, and human rights law at all times.
President Trump should also pull into line the Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu towards negotiating in good faith. Hopefully the outcome will dawn a post-Iranian war regional order away from regional supremacy of one actor over another to a much more localised collective security arrangement.
We pray that commonsense reigns more in global affairs and that this ceasefire holds permanently.
