Israeli escalation in Lebanon’s capital raises concerns that peace negotiations between US and Iran could be derailed.
Save
Share
At least three people have been killed in Israeli attacks on Beirut’s southern suburbs, Lebanese authorities say, in the latest military escalation that observers warn could derail delicate peace negotiations between the United States and Iran.
Lebanon’s civil defence agency said on Sunday that at least seven others were wounded in the Dahiyeh area of the Lebanese capital.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said in a statement that the military struck “Hezbollah targets” in Dahiyeh in response to firings by the Lebanese group towards Israeli territory.
The Israeli military said Hezbollah had launched three projectiles towards northern Israel in what it described as a blatant ceasefire violation.
Experts said the latest escalation in Lebanon – where Israel has been carrying out daily air raids and a ground offensive in the south – could affect negotiations on a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the US and Iran.
“I strongly condemn today’s Israeli strikes on Beirut,” United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres wrote on social media.
“The strikes took place despite the ceasefire & at a time when the US & Iran are expected to reach an agreement that will pave the way to a peaceful resolution of this conflict,” he said, urging all parties to “show maximum restraint at this crucial moment”.
In an interview with US news outlet Axios, Trump said the deal was still on track to be signed on Sunday but would be delayed “by a few hours” due to the Israeli strikes.
Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman, Esmaeil Baghaei, had said a day earlier that an agreement was close but would not be signed on Sunday.
Iran’s top negotiator and parliamentary speaker, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, said on Sunday that the Israeli attacks on Beirut demonstrated that the US “either lacks the will to fulfil its commitments or the ability to do so”.
“If you lack the will and ability to fulfil your commitments, speaking of continuing the path is not possible,” he wrote on social media.
Sardar Asadi, an official at the Iranian military’s Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, also said that the Israeli attacks “will not go unanswered”, Iran’s Mizan news agency reported.
Al Jazeera’s Almigdad Alruhaidm, reporting from Tehran, noted that Iranian officials have repeated that Lebanon would not be separated from the larger deal with the US. “So it could be a huge setback for Iran,” Alruhaid said of the Israeli attacks on Beirut.
“We know that right now there’s a Qatari delegation in Tehran working to resolve disputes, helping to move things forward, progressing or narrowing the gap between both sides and this could be changing the picture for this latest memorandum of understanding.”
Iran also has made clear in the negotiations that attacks on southern Beirut were a red line.
When Israel last struck the Beirut suburbs a week ago, Iran responded by firing missiles at Israel, and Trump demanded restraint from Netanyahu in an angry phone call, according to media reports.
After that incident, the Israeli prime minister said in a social media post that he told the US president “that if Hezbollah does not stop firing at our cities and citizens – Israel will strike terrorist targets in Beirut”.
Earlier on Sunday, Israel issued forced displacement orders for 29 locations in southern Lebanon – 25 in Nabatieh district and four in Sidon district – with people there told to immediately flee north of the Zahrani River.
An Israeli military spokesperson said the forced displacement orders included the towns of Jbaa, Houmin al-Tahta, Ansar and Kfar Sir.
“Once again, the focus is on that southern city of Nabatieh,” Al Jazeera’s Heidi Pett reported from Beirut. “It used to be a large, thriving city. It’s now home to one of the only hospitals still functioning in the south, and it has been pounded by Israeli air strikes over the last couple of weeks, leading to widespread destruction.”
Pett said the prospect of an Iran-US deal has fuelled anxiety across Lebanon.
After the US and Iran announced a temporary ceasefire in April, Lebanon suffered its deadliest day of the war with at least 350 people killed.
“The last time that the US and Iran agreed to a ceasefire deal, Israel said that Lebanon wasn’t part of that agreement and sought to make that extremely clear by striking more than 100 locations in Lebanon in the span of 10 minutes,” Pett said.
“And the concern is that that is their stance once again, that they’re not party to this deal, that they will not be withdrawing.”
Follow Al Jazeera English:
Leave a Reply