Waiting for a possible Israeli retaliation for its missile attacks on Tel Aviv last Tuesday and while Hezbollah tries to contain the Jewish incursions into Lebanon, Iran does not exactly maintain a low profile and insists on its warmongering discourse.
This Thursday, the president of the Islamic Republic, Masud Pezeshkianhas reaffirmed his country’s support for the Palestinian and Lebanese “resistance factions”, has assured that Israel “will not be able to eliminate” them and has warned that the Jewish country “will soon be punished” for its actions.
This is what the president said in the third edition of the so-called Asian Cooperation Dialogue, whose organizer, Qatar has called for a cessation of hostilities in the region.
“Given the repeated aggressions of the Zionist entity against the resistance factions, I am forced to indicate that human rights violators and those who commit crimes must know that this tree is fruitful and cannot be destroyed,” said Pezeshkian, alluding to the Hebrew attacks against Hezbollah and Hamas.
In this way, the Iranian president has assured that “injustice will not go unpunished and the Zionist entity, without a doubt, will soon be punished.” Pezeshkian’s speech takes place when Ayatollah Khameini is scheduled to address the population this Friday. This, after his last intervention last Saturday, when after the assassination of Former Hezbollah leader Hasan Nasrallah said that “the blood of the martyr” would not go “unpunished.”
At the same time, the number of deaths in Lebanon due to bombings and Jewish raids is already close to 2,000 and there are 1.2 million displaced people in the country as a result of the conflict, according to the Lebanese Government.
Likewise, uncertainty reigns in the Middle East regarding the possibility that Israel will carry out its threat and attack Iran in the next few hours due to the launch of missiles against Tel Aviv on Tuesday. The president of the United States, Joe Bidenhas already recognized that Israel has the right to defend itself, but has also warned the Government of Benjamin Netanyahu that he will not support attacking nuclear facilities in Iran.
Israel kills 60 militants and orders more evacuations
Meanwhile, after ensuring that this Thursday He has killed 60 Hezbollah militiamen In a series of airstrikes in Lebanon, Israel has again ordered the evacuation of twenty towns in the south of the country, including the town of Nabatieh, one of the hardest hit by Israeli bombings in recent weeks.
It is the third time that Israeli forces have requested evacuation of towns in southern Lebanon, after announcing on Monday the sending of troops to the border to carry out a series of “limited raids” against Hezbollah.
In all cases Israel has asked civilians to go north of the Awali River, located more than 50 kilometers from the border. This area is much further north than the Litani River (30 kilometers), which marks the demilitarized zone designated by the UN after the 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah, where there should be no armed presence other than the Lebanese authorities and the United Nations mission in the country (UNIFIL). In total, Israel has requested this week the evacuation of more than 70 towns in the south of the country
In parallel, Israeli forces detected this morning the launch of about 50 projectiles and two drones by Hezbollah. The Army has indicated that some of the projectiles were intercepted and others fell in open areas, without causing casualties.
Hezbollah claims to have repelled incursion attempt
For its part, the Shiite militia has claimed to have rejected this Thursday morning an “attempt” by Israeli troops to penetrate Lebanese territory. This, a day after the Hebrew Army announced that since its incursion it has lost eight soldiers.
“Islamic Resistance fighters have repelled an attempt by Israeli enemy forces with artillery to advance at the Gate of Fátima“said the group, referring to an old border crossing located between Kafarkila, in Lebanon, and Metula, in Israel.
In addition, has claimed authorship of the release of the 50 projectiles against “enemy forces” in various points in northern Israel, according to the Lebanese channel Al Manar, linked to the group.
On the other hand, two Lebanese soldiers have died in an Israeli attack against a convoy of the country’s Red Cross that was evacuating victims in a town in the south, where four volunteers have also been injured, according to the organization itself.
This deceased soldier joins nine other people who lost their lives this Thursday in another attack by Jewish forces against a building in the center of Beirut.
Lebanon assures that Nasrallah agreed to a truce
The surprise also came this Thursday after a statement by the Lebanese Foreign Ministry, Abdallah Bou Habib, who in an interview with CNN has assured that the former leader of Hezbollah, Hasan Nasrallah, had agreed with the country on a ceasefire 21 days before dying in Israeli bombings.
“We completely agreed. Lebanon agreed to a ceasefire, but in consultation with Hezbollah. President (of the Lebanese Parliament) Nabih Berri consulted with Hezbollah and we informed the Americans and French of what happened. We were told that Mr. (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu also agreed with the statement issued by both presidents (Joe Biden and Emmanuel Macron),” he stated.
Furthermore, even after the Lebanese Government’s communication to the two countries, White House senior advisor Amos Hochstein, he was preparing to go to Lebanon to negotiate the ceasefire during those three weeks of temporary truce, as Habib explained.
