The Middle East is facing the threat of a full-scale war as Israel and Iran trade strikes

Officials from the region are pressuring the White House to rein in Israel’s strikes on Iran and Beirut. Israel and Iran traded fire early Monday in their first attacks since the U.S. struck a ceasefire with Tehran two months ago. Hours later, Iran’s military said that it would stop offensive operations.The renewed hostilities threatened to drag the Middle East back into a full-scale war.The war, launched by the U.S. and Israel on Feb. 28 with strikes on Iran, has shaken the global economy, driven energy prices up around the world and made many basics, including food, more expensive. Officials have been unable to turn the April ceasefire into a deal to permanently end the conflict.During the truce, Iran has maintained its stranglehold on the Strait of Hormuz — a crucial passage for the world’s oil and natural gas whose closure was the primary reason global fuel prices skyrocketed. Israel has continued to strike Hezbollah, Iran’s ally in Lebanon, and pushed deeper into that country. And on Monday, Yemen’s Houthi rebels, another Iranian ally, fired at Israel and warned they would target Israel-affiliated ships in the Red Sea.With little apparent progress in peace talks, Israel and Iran exchanging fire, and the Houthis joining the fight, the risk of the war fully erupting again appeared higher than at any point since the ceasefire.In the wake of the new attacks, U.S. President Donald Trump wrote online: “Israel and Iran must immediately stop ‘shooting.'”Shortly after, the Iranian military’s joint command issued its statement. It said that if Israel or its supporters carried out any further “aggression and hostile acts,” including in southern Lebanon, then “much more severe and crushing measures than before will follow.”