Iran's Pezeshkian says Israel attacks on Lebanon render ceasefire ‘meaningless’

TEHRAN — Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian said on ‌Thursday that Israeli strikes on Lebanon violate the ceasefire agreement ⁠and would render negotiations meaningless.His comments come after ‌Israel carried ⁠out its heaviest strikes on Lebanon since the ⁠conflict with Hezbollah broke out last ⁠month, killing more than ⁠250 people on Wednesday. “Iran will not abandon the Lebanese people,” Pezeshkian added. Echoing the same sentiment, Iran’s parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said the ceasefire proposal included Lebanon and the entire ‘axis of resistance’ and added that violations carry explicit costs and strong responses. Israel bombed more targets in Lebanon on Thursday, putting the Middle East ceasefire in further jeopardy after its biggest attacks of the war on its neighbor killed more than 250 people. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel would keep hitting Hezbollah “wherever necessary,” the day after deadly Israeli strikes pummelled Lebanon.“We are continuing to strike Hezbollah with force, precision, and determination,” Netanyahu said on his personal X account. “Our message is clear: anyone who acts against Israeli civilians — we will strike them. We will continue to hit Hezbollah wherever necessary, until we fully restore security to the residents of the north” of Israel, he added. Meanwhile, Israel’s military said it was continuing ground operations in southern Lebanon, where troops have been fighting Hezbollah and holding positions since early March. In a separate statement, it said it had struck overnight “two key crossings used by Hezbollah terrorists and commanders for movement from north to south of the Litani River in Lebanon to transfer thousands of weapons, rockets, and launchers.” It added that it had struck “approximately 10 weapons storage facilities, launchers, and command centers” belonging to the Lebanese armed group. Both Netanyahu and Trump have said that Lebanon was not included in the ceasefire agreement, contradicting with the original statement by Pakistan when it was first announced. Lebanon’s health ministry said at least 203 people were killed and more than 1,000 wounded in widespread Israeli strikes in central Beirut and other areas of Lebanon on Wednesday, when Israel intensified its attacks on the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group, which joined the war in support of Tehran. The death toll was the highest for a single day in Lebanon during more than five weeks of renewed war between Israel and Hezbollah. Lebanon’s government on Thursday instructed security forces to restrict weapons in Beirut exclusively to state institutions, a day after Israeli strikes across the country including in the heart of the capital. “The army and security forces are requested to immediately begin reinforcing the full imposition of state authority over Beirut Governorate and to monopolize weapons in the hands of legitimate authorities alone,” Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said at the end of a cabinet meeting. The Lebanese government banned Hezbollah’s military activities at the beginning of March, shortly after the start of war with Israel, but the decision has not stopped the group from conducting military operations. — Agencies