Israeli warplanes launched 100 strikes on different parts of Lebanon on Wednesday, April 8, violating the ceasefire deal that was desperately made by the United States with Iran hours earlier.
At least 254 people were killed, and 1,165 others wounded in the large-scale offensive, according to the Lebanese Civil Defense.
Iran vows to retaliate, pull out from ceasefire deal, if attacks on Lebanon do not stop
As Tehran has already stipulated, the cessation of Israeli attacks on Lebanon is part of its 10-point ceasefire proposal. Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) threatened to retaliate if Tel Aviv does not halt the aggression on the Arab country.
Israel’s violation of the truce has also forced Iran to suspend oil tanker traffic in the Strait of Hormuz until Netanyahu’s government stops attacking the Lebanese territories.
Meanwhile, Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, warned Washington that his country would pull out of the truce deal should Israel continue to attack Lebanon.
“The Iran–US Ceasefire terms are clear and explicit: the U.S. must choose – ceasefire or continued war via Israel. It cannot have both.” Araghchi wrote on X.
“The world sees the massacres in Lebanon. The ball is in the US court, and the world is watching whether it will act on its commitments,” he warned.
“Martyrs blood won’t be in vain”: Hezbollah warned
For its part, Hezbollah issued a statement condemning “the massacres committed by the Zionist enemy against innocent civilians in Lebanon.”
“With its blind hatred, inherent criminality, and boundless brutality, which has become an ingrained nature, the Israeli enemy has today committed a series of mobile massacres against innocent civilians, targeting civilian areas in the southern suburbs and the capital Beirut, in Sidon, the South, and the Bekaa with dozens of brutal strikes, resulting in hundreds of martyrs and wounded among children, women, and the elderly.” The statement reads.
The Lebanese resistance group added that the “barbaric aggression represents war crimes and genocide at every stage”, as it targeted “crowded civilian areas, markets, and commercial centers during peak hours.”
Hezbollah also affirmed that Israel’s “rampant criminality” reflects its frustration after its defeat and “miserable failure to achieve any of its goals and plans on various fronts.”
The group further warned that “the blood of the martyrs and the wounded will not be in vain”, and will strengthen its fighters’ determination to resist and confront in order to curb Israel’s aggression and defend the Lebanese people.
Read more: Dozens killed in Israeli strikes on Lebanon amid intense ground clashes between IOF and Hezbollah
Katz describes the aggression as “the biggest blow” against Hezbollah since the pager operation
Bragging about the Israeli massacres in Lebanon, Israel’s defense minister, Israel Katz, described the aggression as “the largest concentrated blow Hezbollah has suffered since the pager operation”.
Read more: Hezbollah holds Israel responsible for cyber terrorist attack in Lebanon
Katz also threatened Hezbollah Secretary General Sheikh Naim Qassem that his group “would pay a very heavy price for attacking Israel on behalf of Iran, and his personal turn will also come.”
Trump administration backtracks on its commitment, says Lebanon is excluded from the deal
Commenting on the dangerous development that may lead to the collapse of the ceasefire agreement, US officials, including President Donald Trump, said on Wednesday that “Lebanon was not part of the deal”.
“Because of Hezbollah, they were not included in the deal,” Trump declared in an interview with the US Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), adding: “That’ll get taken care of, too. It’s all right.”
When he was asked by PBS on his stance regarding Israel’s continued aggression on Lebanon, the US President noted: “That’s a separate skirmish.”
Reiterating Trump’s remarks during a press conference later on Wednesday, White House spokesperson, Karoline Leavitt stated:
“ Lebanon is not part of the ceasefire that has been relayed to all parties involved in the ceasefire.”
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