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Israeli army tells residents of Beirut suburb to evacuate
The Israeli military ordered residents of southern Beirut’s Dahiyeh area to evacuate shortly after it attacked the Haret Hreik district there, levelling six buildings.
In a post on X, Israeli military spokesperson Avichay Adraee said people who reside in the al-Hadath and Laylaki neighbourhoods should leave their homes immediately and to keep away “for a distance of no less than 500 metres [1,640ft]”.
“You are located near Hezbollah interests and for your safety and the safety of your loved ones, you must evacuate the buildings,” said Adraee.
Iranian president calls Israel’s Beirut attack ‘state terrorism’
Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian denounced Israel’s air strikes on Beirut. “Today’s attacks by the Zionist regime on the Dahiyeh region in Beirut are a clear and undeniable war crime,” Pezeshkian said in a statement.
He described Israel’s actions as a continuation of “state-sponsored terrorism”.
“The crimes committed by the Zionist regime against the people of Palestine and Lebanon are a sign of the international community’s inability to stop the machinery of state terrorism, proving this regime is the greatest threat to regional and international peace and security.”
The Iranian president called for a unified global response, particularly from Muslim nations, to “condemn this crime”.
Iran’s foreign ministry denounces ‘Zionist regime’s crimes’
Citing two unidentified Iranian officials, the New York Times reports Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei called an emergency meeting of the Supreme National Security Council at his home.
It comes after Israel’s deadly attack on southern Beirut. The Iranian foreign ministry, meanwhile, condemned the “brutal terrorist air strike on several residential buildings in Beirut”.
“The continuation of the Zionist regime’s crimes shows clearly that the ceasefire call issued by the United States and some Western countries is a blatant trick aimed at winning time for the Zionist regime to continue its crimes against the Palestinian and Lebanese peoples,” ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanani said in a statement.
Iranian embassy in Beirut says Israeli strike "changes the rules of the game"
The Iranian embassy in Beirut said the Israeli strike Friday “changes the rules of the game” and warned Israel would be “punished.”
“The Israeli regime once again commits a bloody massacre, targeting heavily populated residential neighborhoods, spewing false justifications to try and cover up its brutal crimes,” the embassy posted on X (formerly Twitter).
“There is no doubt that this reprehensible crime and reckless behavior represent a serious escalation that changes the rules of the game, and that its perpetrator will be punished appropriately,” it added.
US officials furious that Netanyahu dismissed Lebanon ceasefire proposal, sources say
Top Biden administration officials were furious Thursday after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu threw cold water on an Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire proposal that a group of nations led by the US released Wednesday night, prompting them to demand that the Israelis put out a public statement to remedy the diplomatic embarrassment, sources tell CNN.
Leading up to Wednesday, US officials had been given every assurance by Ron Dermer – one of Netanyahu’s closest confidants – that the prime minister was on board with the ceasefire framework that suggests a pause in hostilities for 21 days across the Israel-Lebanon border. Sources said Dermer himself had seen – and approved – the text of the proposal.
But within hours of the Biden White House announcing the ceasefire proposal, Netanyahu and his office dismissed it, calling the idea of an imminent ceasefire “incorrect,” while the prime minister vowed to continue Israel’s offensive against Hezbollah.
Angry senior US officials – convinced that Netanyahu was reacting to backlash at home from far-right members of his government – scrambled to get answers from their Israeli counterparts.
When Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Dermer in New York City Thursday, for example, he demanded that the Israelis put out a public statement, according to one official. That, in part, appeared to prompt the prime minister’s office to release a statement on Thursday that said discussions about the ceasefire proposal would continue in the coming days. That statement did not explicitly accept or reject the proposal.
“Israel appreciates the US efforts in this regard because the US role is indispensable in advancing stability and security in the region,” the statement said.
A source familiar with Blinken’s lengthy meeting with Dermer on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly would only describe it as candid.
Prior to seeing Blinken, Dermer also saw top White House officials including Brett McGurk and Amos Hochstein. Those meetings were described by a source as “frank.” McGurk and Hochstein were among the senior officials who believed that because Dermer had been involved in the process of drafting the ceasefire proposal, Netanyahu was on board.
The Israeli embassy and the White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
