The Israeli Air Force on Wednesday carried out its largest wave of airstrikes yet against Hezbollah, the military said, after announcing that it would keep fighting the Iran-backed terror group in Lebanon, despite the two-week ceasefire with Tehran that came into place hours earlier.
The prime minister of Pakistan, who mediated between the US and Iran, declared in his post announcing the two-week ceasefire overnight Wednesday-Thursday that it would cover Lebanon as well. Iran said the same, while Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office has insisted that Israel’s strikes against Hezbollah would continue.
Trump weighed in on the issue later Wednesday, telling a PBS reporter during a phone interview that Lebanon was not included in the Iran ceasefire.
When asked why not, Trump responded: “Because of Hezbollah. They were not included in the deal. That’ll get taken care of too. It’s alright.”
Asked if he was okay with Israel’s ongoing strikes against Hezbollah, Trump said: “It’s part of the deal — everyone knows that. That’s a separate skirmish.”
The IDF strikes came as Hezbollah urged civilians not to return to southern Lebanon before, and as a Hezbollah official said the terror group had not publicly committed to the ceasefire because Israel had not either.
The Israel Defense Forces said its strikes targeted Beirut, the eastern Beqaa Valley and southern Lebanon. It issued evacuation warnings ahead of the strikes for Lebanese civilians in Beirut’s southern suburbs and areas of southern Lebanon.
A source in Lebanon’s civil defense reported dozens of people killed in Beirut, and the Lebanese health ministry called on people there to clear the roads to let ambulances through. At least a dozen people were killed in other strikes in the southern Lebanese cities of Sidon and Tyre, according to Lebanese authorities and state media.
Defense Minister Israel Katz said the strikes targeted “hundreds of Hezbollah operatives.”
Two military officials briefing Israeli reporters said the wave of airstrikes did not represent “closing strikes” of the campaign, and that the fighting against Hezbollah continues until Israel’s political leadership says otherwise.
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