Donald Trump sought to exit the war with Iran through a pact before the midterm elections, but his unruly ally, Israel, threatens to blow the agreement apart. Benjamin Netanyahu announced early Sunday a new wave of bombings in the southern neighborhoods of Beirut, one of the red lines set by the United States in the ceasefire signed between the Lebanese government and Israel on April 17.
Read more Several European countries are seeking external partners to create migrant deportation centers
Immediately after, Iran responded by freezing peace talks with Washington until Israel ceases its offensive in the land of the cedars. The spokesperson for the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Esmail Baghaei, stated that “a ceasefire in Lebanon is an inseparable part of any ceasefire and any final agreement to end the war.”
Also read
In a statement, the Iranian Central Military Command said that if an air offensive on Beirut finally occurs, residents of northern Israel and military settlements in the “occupied territories” must leave the area “if they do not want to be injured.”
Tensions increased until Trump’s – chaotic and contradictory – intervention, who said on his social media that he had agreed with Hizbullah and Israel to stop the crossfire. According to Israeli sources cited by the media Yedioth Ahnoroth, the U.S. president held a phone conversation with Netanyahu, who agreed to “postpone” the bombings in the capital.
However, the Israeli prime minister later declared that he had told the U.S. president that “if Hizbullah does not stop attacking our cities and our citizens, Israel will attack terrorist targets in Beirut. Our stance remains the same,” he said in a statement. “At the same time, the army will continue operating as planned in southern Lebanon,” he emphasized.
In Beirut, where only one Israeli attack has occurred since the ceasefire took effect, the Israeli prime minister’s words caused panic among residents of the southern neighborhoods. “There are many people who had returned to their apartments, as they had no alternative shelter,” Abdalah explains by phone to La Vanguardia.
Tehran conditions talks until Israel ceases its offensive against the Land of the Cedars
Once again, thousands of people clogged the main arteries of the city in anticipation of an imminent attack. “This time, people are much more tired,” narrates Abdalah, who laments the constant feeling that “no place is safe.” Meanwhile, both the Israeli army and Hizbullah have continued fighting in southern Lebanon. However, Tel Aviv has shown no intention of stopping an invasion with a high cost to its own population. Every day, the photo of a new fallen soldier in combat headlines all Hebrew newspapers. The Shiite militia launches dozens of drones daily against northern Israel, where air raid alarms do not cease and where school classes have been canceled.
Read more Trump pressures Netanyahu to “postpone” attacks on Beirut
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have further deepened their invasion of southern Lebanon in recent weeks. On Sunday, the military command claimed to have taken the emblematic Crusader fortress of Beaufort, a strategic point to control southern Lebanon and a symbol of all the wars between the two countries. Hizbullah, however, claims that the images released have a propaganda purpose and that Israel does not yet have full control of the lookout.
Netanyahu: “If Hizbullah does not stop attacking our cities and our citizens, Israel will attack in Beirut”
While the possible attack on Beirut made headlines, Lebanese authorities reported an Israeli bombing near a hospital in the southern city of Tyre, a historic Phoenician enclave and one of the main towns in the south. The Ministry of Health released images showing severe damage to the facilities.
The Lebanese National News Agency reported that the bombing, directed at a junction near the Jabal Amel hospital, caused several injuries. So far, authorities have raised the toll to six dead and at least twenty injured. The Israeli army did not immediately comment on the incident.
The war in Lebanon, considered the main regional extension of the conflict with Iran, has caused the displacement of more than 1.2 million people since March, according to official data. Lebanese authorities estimate more than 3,370 deaths from the Israeli offensive, while Israel claims to have lost 24 soldiers and four civilians during the same period.
U.S. resumes negotiations with Iran, according to Trump
President Donald Trump added another feather to his cap yesterday by announcing that negotiations between the United States and Iran had resumed after Tehran announced they were walking away from the table due to Israeli attacks in Lebanon. “I think it’s fine if they have finished talking,” he replied with apparent indifference. “That doesn’t mean we’re going to start dropping bombs all over the place,” Trump emphasized, who issued a statement on his social network explaining that he had spoken with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and stressed that “there will be no soldiers going to Beirut.” He also wrote that “any troops that were on the way have already been withdrawn.” And he said: “Likewise, through high-level representatives, I had a good conversation with Hizbullah and they agreed to cease all fire; that is, Israel will not attack them and they will not attack Israel,” he underlined. So, according to Trump in another post, negotiations between the United States and Iran resumed, now “moving at a fast pace.” Initially, he even stated that “the Iranians are better negotiators than fighters.” / Francesc Peirón. Correspondent in New York
Read more Starmer’s name does not appear at all in Mandelson’s papers
