ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - US President Donald Trump said on Monday that both Israeli officials and the Iran-backed Hezbollah movement in Lebanon had agreed to de-escalate their confrontations. His remarks came shortly after Tel Aviv signalled plans to intensify its airstrikes in Lebanon, while Tehran warned of consequences for the military action, which it said constituted a violation of its ceasefire agreement with Washington.
“I had a very productive call with Prime Minister [Benjamin] Bibi Netanyahu of Israel, and there will be no troops going to Beirut. Any troops that were on their way have already been turned back,” Trump said in a statement posted on his Truth Social platform.
He further noted that “through highly placed representatives, I had a very good call with Hezbollah, and they agreed that all shooting will stop - that Israel will not attack them, and they will not attack Israel.”
Trump’s statement came hours after Israeli PM Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz issued a joint statement saying they ordered strikes on Beirut's densely populated southern suburb, widely known as Dahiyeh.
"In light of the repeated violations of the ceasefire in Lebanon by the terrorist Hezbollah organization and the attacks on our cities and citizens,” the Israeli forces have been instructed to “strike terror targets in Dahiyeh,” the statement said.
Israel has also pursued a ground offensive into southern Lebanon, raising its flag over a medieval castle, the Beaufort, which served as an Israeli base during its two-decade occupation of Lebanese territory in the 1980s and 1990s.
The announcement came as Israel and Hezbollah have been locked in confrontations since early March, when the Iran-aligned Lebanese group launched an initial attack on northern Israel, which was followed by hundreds of Israeli air raids on what it said were Hezbollah targets across Lebanon.
Hezbollah’s action formed part of Tehran’s broader response to the US-Israeli aerial campaign against Iran in late February, during which thousands of targets across the country were struck over six weeks of hostilities.
In response, Iran launched thousands of drone and missile strikes across the Middle East, targeting what it described as US assets - particularly in Gulf Arab states - while also carrying out retaliatory attacks against Israel.
Iran and the US agreed to a Pakistan-mediated ceasefire on April 8, halting fighting to allow space for talks. While the first round of talks concluded without a final agreement on April 11, a second round has yet to take place.
Trump’s remarks on Monday also came shortly after Iran warned of consequences should Israel proceed with the operations announced by its top officials.
Mohsen Rezaee, a military adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader, warned that the "patience of the armed forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran has its limits," referring to the continuation of Israeli operations in Lebanon and the US maritime blockade on Iranian ports. He stated that neither would be tolerated indefinitely.
Meanwhile, the Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, which oversees Iran’s wartime operations, warned that if Israel proceeds with its evacuation directives for civilians in Lebanon, residents of northern Israel should also evacuate, signaling the possibility of military action.
"Given the [Israeli] regime's repeated violations of the ceasefire, the headquarters warned that if these threats are carried out, residents of northern [Israeli] regions and military settlements in the occupied [Palestinian] territories should evacuate immediately to avoid harm," the headquarters said, according to Iranian state media.
The escalation of rhetoric by Iranian military officials came shortly after Tehran’s foreign minister and senior negotiator in the peace talks with Washington, Abbas Araghchi, said on Monday that Israeli strikes in Lebanon violate the ceasefire agreement brokered with the United States, which he said covers “all fronts,” warning of potential “consequences.”
This as media affiliated with the IRGC reported that Tehran was suspending indirect communications with Washington until Tel Aviv halts its escalation on the Lebanese front.
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