Israel Won’t Withdraw Troops From Lebanon Despite US-Iran Peace Deal, Issues Warning To Tehran
Jerusalem : Israel will not withdraw from southern Lebanon as part of the newly agreed to US-Iran deal despite Iranian demands. An IDF source also confirmed that if Hezbollah respects the ceasefire, there will not be attacks anywhere in Lebanon. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has yet to address the US-Iran deal or the issue of Lebanon.
Both sides have declared the immediate and permanent termination of military operations on all fronts, including in Lebanon,” Sharif stated. Hours before the US-Iran deal was finalized on Sunday, Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz instructed the IDF to target the Dahiyeh district of Beirut in response to Hezbollah fire toward Israeli territory. The IDF notified CENTCOM shortly before conducting the strike.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said that China “hopes the U.S. and Iran will sign the initial memorandum of understanding as scheduled.” Beijing hopes that safe and free passage through the Strait of Hormuz will be restored as soon as possible, he added. France’s Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot welcomed the agreement “that should bring an end to hostilities on all fronts, including in Lebanon.” He said that “all parties to the conflict must respect this agreement.”
“Fingers crossed that they will be also initialized on Friday, because everybody needs the Strait of Hormuz to be open and actually this war to stop,” Kaja Kallas, foreign policy chief of the 27-nation EU, said ahead of a gathering of foreign ministers in Luxembourg on Monday. But some of the ministers, like Luxembourg’s Xavier Bettel, expressed skepticism. “It’s a long time till Friday,” he said.
Pakistan first announced the deal, with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif saying “both sides have declared the immediate and permanent termination of military operations on all fronts, including in Lebanon.” He added that mediators this week will facilitate meetings to “lay the foundation for the technical talks.” Broader negotiations on outstanding issues like Iran’s nuclear program would continue over the next 60 days, two senior Pakistani officials said earlier Sunday, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly.