A merciless pounding of the whole is being indulged in after the announcement of two weeks – Israel -, despite the fact that it initially appeared to be proceeding with a unilateral ceasefire. Israeli attacks against Lebanon are reportedly of an unprecedented scale and intensity, with the country’s Ministry of Health claiming that dozens of people have been killed and hundreds injured in airstrikes that took place mainly in the capital.
The fact that there was ambiguity from the beginning about whether the truce and ceasefire included Lebanon allowed Benjamin Netanyahu to openly claim that it did not apply to Lebanon and then proceed with this massive wave of attacks that is now described by many as “carnage”.
This move causes chain reactions that threaten to shake the truce in the air, as on the one hand Iran, but also Pakistan maintain that the agreement included Lebanon, while the USA, through the mouth of the White House representative Caroline Levitt, appear to stand by Israel, arguing that the truce did not concern the country.
Carnage in Beirut and other areas of Lebanon
The Ministry of Health of Lebanon, in this context, appealed to the residents of Beirut to “urgently” open the way for ambulances, after the many simultaneous unannounced Israeli strikes, the most severe since the beginning of the war, which hit the heart of the capital.
From the accounts from Beirut, it appears that a continuous drop of bombs shook the capital Beirut and smoke rose into the sky. One of the strikes in a densely populated neighborhood killed at least 12 people, a security source said. According to the ministry’s tally, a total of 257 people were killed by the Israeli attacks, of which 12 health workers and 700 others were injured.
Bloodied and injured residents of Beirut were abandoning their cars on the street and heading to the nearest hospitals, according to Reuters eyewitnesses.
“The congestion on the roads from the unprecedented number and intensity of the wave of wounds” unleashed by Israel “makes rescue operations difficult,” the ministry said in a statement, stressing that it is “necessary and particularly urgent to open the roads for ambulances” arriving in the affected areas.
For its part, the Israeli military announced that it launched the “largest coordinated strike” against the Islamist group Hezbollah since the outbreak of the US-Israeli war against Iran on February 28.
According to the relevant announcement, the attack hit approximately 100 Hezbollah targets throughout Lebanon, and more specifically: “In a period of 10 minutes and simultaneously in many areas, we attacked approximately 100 command posts and military infrastructure of the organization.”
The Israeli military said it had called on the population of several neighborhoods in southern Beirut, a Hezbollah stronghold, to evacuate in anticipation of further raids. The warning was posted on social media by Colonel Avihai Andrai, the Israeli army’s Arabic-speaking spokesman.
“Fighting continues in Lebanon where the ceasefire is not in place,” said Colonel Andrai, who announced three evacuation orders for areas of Lebanon since the 15-day ceasefire announced by Donald Trump began.
Reactions to the attacks from Lebanon
In this context, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun stated that the Israeli attacks that killed and injured hundreds of people across Lebanon weigh on Israel’s “black record” of violating “all human values.”
“These barbaric acts of aggression – which recognize no rights and respect no agreements or commitments – have repeatedly shown complete disregard for all international laws and regulations,” Aoun said in a statement.
“In the last 15 months since the cessation of hostilities agreement, we have witnessed the massive scale of violations committed with complete impunity,” he added, referring to the November 2024 truce between Israel and Hezbollah.
He threatens Iran with an exit from the deal
The Israeli attacks also drew reactions from Iran, with Al Jazeera citing unnamed Iranian officials as saying that “Israel will be punished in response to the crime it committed in Lebanon in violation of the terms of the ceasefire. The truce includes the region and Israel is known to break its promises and the deterrent to this only works with bullets.” Ending the war on all fronts, including in Lebanon, is part of the truce agreed by Tehran with Washington, the source added.
Another report claims that Iran is preparing to withdraw from the cease-fire agreement reached with the US if attacks on Lebanon continue. This is reported by the Tansim agency citing a source who did not want to be named.
The source emphasized that the Iranian armed forces are identifying targets to respond to today’s Israeli attacks against Lebanon.
Other reports claim that Iran has again started warning ships in the Strait of Hormuz not to pass without permission.
As the Wall Street Journal reveals, Iran has contacted regional mediators with the other side and conveyed that its participation in talks with US officials in Islamabad is dependent on the observance of the ceasefire in Lebanon, warning that it may also reverse its decision to open the Straits of Hormuz.
Iranian mediators also warned that they would continue to carry out attacks on countries in the region, including Israel, if Israel’s attacks against Lebanon and Iran continued, they added.
The US and Iran agreed to end hostilities during a 15-day ceasefire period. Israel’s military staff said that while it had agreed to a ceasefire against Iran, its ground operations against Hezbollah in Lebanon would continue.
For his part, Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif told X that ceasefire violations were observed in a few parts of the region, calling on all parties to show restraint “so that diplomacy can take the lead in the peaceful resolution of the conflict.”
Earlier, according to the WSJ, there had been communication between the Iranian foreign minister, Abbas Aragchi, and the chief of the Pakistani army, Asim Munir.
In their conversation, they discussed “Israeli violations of the ceasefire in Lebanon” and emphasized continued coordinated action in accordance with previous agreements, according to a statement from Iran’s foreign ministry.
Reactions from others about the Israeli attacks
However, in the direction of the Iranian statement and contrary to the assessments of the Israelis and Netanyahu himself on whether Lebanon is excluded from the truce, the statement of the Prime Minister of Pakistan Shehbaz Sharif also moves, who made it clear that the US, Iran and their allies accepted a ceasefire “everywhere”, and in Lebanon, after the mediation of Islamabad.
Accordingly, French President Emmanuel Macron insisted that the ceasefire agreement should logically fully include Lebanon. Not a few experts estimate that Israel’s attacks in Lebanon are aimed at “breaking” the truce between the US and Iran, as the Netanyahu government is under unbearable pressure from the opposition regarding it as it is presented as a government failure.
The US rushes to support Israel
According to Axios, White House press secretary Caroline Levitt has maintained that Lebanon is not included in the ceasefire agreement with Iran. Shortly after this statement, Donald Trump himself, in a telephone interview on the PBS News Hour, specifically stated: “Yes, they (including Lebanon) are not included in the agreement. Because of Hezbollah, they are not included in the agreement. This too will be solved, it’s okay.”
In the meantime, the US president appeared to support that the US continues to have visions of co-management of the Straits of Hormuz (a demand that Iran has rejected many times in the past), stating in his statements that: “We are thinking of doing it as a joint venture. It’s a way to ensure that – and to ensure it from a lot of other people.”
Along with the American statements, it became known that Israel’s Security Council is expected to meet later today to discuss the issues of the truce with Iran. According to the WSJ, the Israeli side had not been informed by the US about the terms of the agreement with Iran and did not appreciate the relevant announcement at dawn.
