India, April 18 -- Israel has agreed to a 10-day ceasefire in Lebanon, which could produce enabling conditions for President Trump to clinch a deal with Iran. The six-week war claimed over 2,000 lives as Israel bombed its neighbour for hosting Hezbollah, a militant group patronised by Tehran. We recommend Lebanon: A Country in Fragments by Andrew Arsan to understand the trauma of this tiny nation of five million on the Red Sea. Sandwiched between Israel and Syria, it has been a victim of politics, history, and geography. Arsan's focus is on the years between 2005 and 2018, which saw political instability marked by assassinations and continuing sectarian tensions. Lebanon's multi-faith/ethnic social fabric has always been vulnerable to the politics of West Asia, with Israel and Iran casting a shadow over its political and economic life. War and exile have been recurring experiences for the Lebanese. Arsan explains the whys and hows of this predicament....