“The ceasefire between Iran and the US is unequivocally a ceasefire on all fronts, including in Lebanon. Its violation on one front is a violation of the ceasefire on all fronts,” Araghchi writes on X.
“The US and Israel are responsible for the consequences of any violation,” he says.
Israel had largely refrained from attacking Beirut amid escalating tensions with Iran-backed Hezbollah at the behest of the US Trump administration as it tried to reach a deal with Iran, but has now vowed to do so amid a surge in Hezbollah attacks on soldiers and northern communities.
After instructing the IDF to strike Hezbollah targets in Beirut’s southern suburbs, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz state that the terror group’s headquarters in Dahiyeh are not “off-limits” amid escalating fighting between the sides, after Israel held back from striking the Lebanese capital at the behest of the Trump administration.
“There will be no situation in which Hezbollah attacks our cities and citizens while the terror headquarters in Dahiyeh remain off-limits,” Netanyahu says in a video statement. “We are continuing to deepen our operations on the ground in southern Lebanon, eliminating Hezbollah strongholds. Hezbollah is on the run. We are determined to restore security to the residents of the north, just as we did for the residents of the south,” he says.
Speaking at a military ceremony, Katz adds in a separate statement: “If there is no quiet in the north, there will be no quiet in Beirut… We will not allow a situation in which our communities and citizens are harmed while calm is maintained in Beirut.”
Katz says the IDF is continuing to carry out both air and ground operations against Hezbollah in Lebanon, saying the military is achieving “significant gains” against the terror group to remove threats to Israeli civilians and troops.
He says the goal is to “turn the Litani area into a zone under IDF security control, free of weapons and terrorists.”
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