Mediaite reports that Israel conducted strikes on Beirut and that Trump spoke by phone with Netanyahu, stated a peace pact with Iran had been reached, announced resumed oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz, and verbally attacked Netanyahu on his birthday. Fox News reported unverified claims that the strikes targeted Hezbollah. Three ideological analyses and one meta-critique examine the events through differing lenses of escalation, diplomacy, and state incentives.