Israel says operations in Lebanon to continue despite Trump’s ceasefire | Middle East and north Africa
Israel said that its military operations in Lebanon will continue despite Donald Trump’s ceasefire declaration, that Israeli forces carried out attacks and told civilians in the south of the country to leave the areas they targeted.
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said Trump’s two-week pause “does not include Lebanon” amid reports of continued artillery and drone strikes, directly contradicting statements by Iran and Pakistan, which are mediating the conflict.
While announcing a ceasefire overnight, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said Iran, the United States and their allies had “agreed to an immediate ceasefire everywhere, including Lebanon and other places.”
Israel said it supported Trump’s decision to suspend attacks on Iran for two weeks on the condition that Tehran opens the Strait of Hormuz and stops attacks on all countries in the region, but for days it emphasized that it views Lebanon as a separate conflict.
On Wednesday morning, a spokesman for the Israeli army said it was “continuing its operations” against Hezbollah and told people in southern Lebanon to move north of the Zahrani River.
According to leaks, Iran’s 10-point peace planThis document, adopted by Trump as the basis for negotiations, calls for an end to the war against all components of the “axis of resistance”, which, according to Tehran, includes the pro-Iran Lebanese group Hezbollah.
Trump’s failure to mention Lebanon in his ceasefire statements focusing on Iran created uncertainty about whether Israel’s attacks on Lebanon, which killed more than 1,500 people, most of them civilians, would stop.
Netanyahu told the Israeli security cabinet meeting on Sunday night that there would be no situation where the ceasefire with Iran would be transferred to Lebanon. Political and military leaders agreed that the war should continue.
An hour before a ceasefire was declared in Iran, Israel bombed a car outside a row of beachside cafes in Saida, killing eight people and wounding 22, according to Lebanon’s health ministry.
Israel continued to pound Lebanon until dawn, pounding the south with artillery fire and launching two separate drone strikes on the towns of Qana and al-Kleile. Hezbollah said it did not respond overnight.
The Israeli military also issued an Arabic warning to people in Tire shortly after 9 a.m. to move away from the building; These statements often precede an air strike on a populated area.
Hezbollah is expected to issue a statement outlining its official position on the ceasefire and Netanyahu’s claim that Lebanon is not included in the agreement, Lebanese sources told Reuters.
As dawn broke, southbound highways filled with traffic. While residents tried to return to their homes, Hezbollah urged people not to return to certain villages because Israeli soldiers remained there.
As people in Lebanon tried to parse whether the country would be included in the Iran ceasefire, WhatsApp chats were filled with anxious and hopeful messages.
Almost five weeks of war in Lebanon have pushed the country to breaking point, with the forced displacement of more than 1.1 million people, many of whom live on the streets.
There were several airstrikes on Israel during the first part of the night, but they were called off shortly before 3:30 a.m., about 40 minutes after the Pakistani prime minister’s announcement. No attacks have been reported since then.
