BEIRUT: A day of tragedy occurred on the southern Lebanese front on Wednesday after Israeli airstrikes targeted several villages. There were some deaths, including a woman and two children, while at least nine others were injured. Some of the victims remained buried under rubble.
The Israeli warplanes initiated the series of airstrikes following an attack by Iran-backed Hezbollah on Israeli military sites — involving precise and long-range missiles — near the city of Safed.
Itamar Ben-Gvir, Israel’s national security minister, said: “We either initiate a full-scale war against Hezbollah or the Israeli public will be informed that there is no government.”
Avigdor Lieberman, the leader of Yisrael Beiteinu, said: “The red line turned into a white flag, and the War Cabinet surrendered to Hezbollah and lost the north.”
The mayor of Safed said that “Hezbollah missiles fell on military bases around the city and not inside it.”
The Iron Dome failed to intercept the last missile, and an Israeli spokesman said: “One person was killed in the bombing and seven were wounded, three seriously.”
Israeli media said that the wounded were “Israeli soldiers.”
Israeli fighter jets conducted multiple airstrikes on the town of Adshit in Nabatieh, targeting a three-story building.
One person was reportedly killed in the attack, while several were unaccounted for under the debris.
Ambulance teams were engaged in the rescue operation, working diligently to clear the rubble and search for survivors.
One of the raids also targeted a house in the town of Al-Sowanah, killing a Syrian woman, Rawaa Mohammed, and two of her stepchildren, Hassan Mohsen, 13, and his brother Amir, 2.
Israeli warplanes simultaneously targeted the towns of Basalia and Jbaa in Nabatieh, the outskirts of Zhalta in Jezzine, and a property in Kfardonin.
Airstrikes also targeted the area south of the coastal town of Naqoura, while the Israeli Iron Dome was activated to intercept missiles near the town of Marwahin.
Benny Gantz, a member of the Israeli War Council, said: “The responsibility for launching rockets from Lebanon does not lie only with Hezbollah, but with the state of Lebanon as well. The response to targeting northern Israel will be strong.”
Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah on Tuesday referenced those who threatened an expansion of the war, saying: “We threaten them with expansion as well, and whoever imagines that the resistance in Lebanon feels, even for a single moment, fear or confusion, is completely mistaken.”
Nasrallah said Hezbollah was “monitoring all developments in the region, and all possibilities are open. When the aggression against Gaza stops, the war in the south will stop.”
He added: “The enemy is fighting on the southern Lebanese front within limits and controls.”
Several killed, including 2 children, in Israeli raids on southern Lebanon following Hezbollah strike
https://arab.news/mx2g6
Several killed, including 2 children, in Israeli raids on southern Lebanon following Hezbollah strike
- The Israeli warplanes initiated the series of airstrikes following an attack by Iran-backed Hezbollah on Israeli military sites near Safed
- Avigdor Lieberman, the leader of Yisrael Beiteinu, said: “The red line turned into a white flag, and the War Cabinet surrendered to Hezbollah and lost the north”
Trump warns Iran of ‘very traumatic’ outcome if no nuclear deal
- Speaking a day after he hosted Netanyahu at the White House, Trump said he hoped for a result “over the next month”
WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump threatened Iran Thursday with “very traumatic” consequences if it fails to make a nuclear deal — but Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he was skeptical about the quality of any such agreement.
Speaking a day after he hosted Netanyahu at the White House, Trump said he hoped for a result “over the next month” from Washington’s negotiations with Tehran over its nuclear program.
“We have to make a deal, otherwise it’s going to be very traumatic, very traumatic. I don’t want that to happen, but we have to make a deal,” Trump told reporters.
“This will be very traumatic for Iran if they don’t make a deal.”
Trump — who is considering sending a second aircraft carrier to the Middle East to pressure Iran — recalled the US military strikes he ordered on Tehran’s nuclear facilities during Israel’s 12-day war with Iran in July last year.
“We’ll see if we can get a deal with them, and if we can’t, we’ll have to go to phase two. Phase two will be very tough for them,” Trump said.
Netanyahu had traveled to Washington to push Trump to take a harder line in the Iran nuclear talks, particularly on including the Islamic Republic’s arsenal of ballistic missiles.
But the Israeli and US leaders apparently remained at odds, with Trump saying after their meeting at the White House on Wednesday that he had insisted the negotiations should continue.
- ‘General skepticism’ -
Netanyahu said in Washington on Thursday before departing for Israel that Trump believed he was laying the ground for a deal.
“He believes that the conditions he is creating, combined with the fact that they surely understand they made a mistake last time when they didn’t reach an agreement, may create the conditions for achieving a good deal,” Netanyahu said, according to a video statement from his office.
But the Israeli premier added: “I will not hide from you that I expressed general skepticism regarding the quality of any agreement with Iran.”
Any deal “must include the elements that are very important from our perspective,” Netanyahu continued, listing Iran’s ballistic missile program and its support for armed groups such as the Palestinian movement Hamas, Yemen’s Houthi rebels and Hezbollah in Lebanon.
“It’s not just the nuclear issue,” he said.
Despite their differences on Iran, Trump signaled his strong personal support for Netanyahu as he criticized Israeli President Isaac Herzog for rejecting his request to pardon the prime minister on corruption charges.
“You have a president that refuses to give him a pardon. I think that man should be ashamed of himself,” Trump said on Thursday.
Trump has repeatedly hinted at potential US military action against Iran following its deadly crackdown on protests last month, even as Washington and Tehran restarted talks last week with a meeting in Oman.
The last round of talks between the two foes was cut short by Israel’s war with Iran and the US strikes.
So far, Iran has rejected expanding the new talks beyond the issue of its nuclear program. Tehran denies seeking a nuclear weapon, and has said it will not give in to “excessive demands” on the subject.
