Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel on Monday appeared to back off from a threat to strike Hezbollah in Beirut, Lebanon’s capital, hours after President Trump and the United Nations Security Council leaned on Israel to de-escalate its military campaign against the Iran-backed militia.
But Mr. Netanyahu made no mention of a cease-fire in Lebanon. Iran has said that among its conditions for a peace agreement with the United States is an end to hostilities on all fronts, including Lebanon.
On Monday, diplomats at an emergency meeting of the Security Council were nearly unanimous — with the exception of the United States — in calling for Israel to withdraw its forces from Lebanon and refrain from ramping up its attacks. Israel had warned that it would imminently strike Beirut’s southern suburbs, a Hezbollah stronghold.
Mr. Trump later said on social media that Israel and Hezbollah had agreed to stop their attacks on each other, while the Lebanese government — which does not include or control Hezbollah — said a new truce was taking shape. Mr. Netanyahu then issued a statement that appeared to move away from his threat to attack Beirut while adding that the Israeli military would “continue to operate as planned in southern Lebanon.”
“I spoke with President Trump tonight, and told him that if Hezbollah doesn’t cease its attacks on our cities and civilians — Israel will strike terror targets in Beirut,” Mr. Netanyahu said. “This position of ours remains.”
There was no immediate comment from Hezbollah. Lebanon’s government said it had “received confirmation that Hezbollah had agreed to the U.S. proposal for a mutual cessation of attacks.” A prominent Lebanese politician, Nabih Berri, who has acted as an intermediary between Hezbollah and the United States, said the group was prepared to accept a cease-fire.
Iran had warned the United States through intermediaries that it would suspend negotiations to end the war if Israel attacked southern Beirut, according to two senior Iranian officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were discussing sensitive information.
Here’s what else we’re covering:
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Beirut evacuations: Thousands of people fled their homes after Mr. Netanyahu’s threat to strike the city’s southern suburb, clogging roads in an exodus that has become a miserable routine over the past three years. Read more ›
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U.S.-Iran negotiations: Mr. Trump said that talks with Iran on an agreement to end the war were starting “to get very boring.” Speaking to CNBC, the president said he “couldn’t care less” about Iran’s threats to stop negotiating. Read more ›
