It has been put under siege by the Israeli army Cheesethe historical port of the Phoenicians in the south Lebanon and one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world.
Defying his strict recommendations Donald Trump after the exchange of bombings with Iran on Sunday and Monday, o Benjamin Netanyahu continues his murderous campaign against her Hezbollahundermining efforts for a ceasefire agreement between Washington and Tehran.
At least 11 people died after a bombardment in the eastern part of Tire yesterday morning, as announced by the Lebanese Ministry of Health. A little earlier, the Israeli army had issued an evacuation order for the entire city, including the Christian sector, in the northwestern part of the city. This fact speaks for itself about the ties that Shiaism has built Hezbollah beyond the religious community from which it originates. In a statement yesterday, the organization called on the Lebanese government to restore relations with Iran and “take advantage of the support provided by the Islamic Republic” to Lebanon.
On the other side of the border, the Israeli army said it had killed a man after he opened fire on his men after he crossed the border coming from Lebanon, in what it said was the area where Kiryat Shmona is located.
In Tyre, some 20 kilometers from the border with Israel, residents were leaving the city en masse, after the Israeli army warned civilians to evacuate immediately in case of casualties.
Over 1,000,000 displaced
Israeli military operations and evacuation orders extend across southern Lebanon, covering up to one-fifth of the country, with more than 1 million displaced. The humanitarian organization “Doctors Without Borders” criticized the “violent displacement practices” carried out by the invaders.
For his part, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres expressed his “deep concern” about the new cycle of violence in the Middle East and called for full respect for the ceasefire agreements in Lebanon, Iran and Gaza.
US Apache helicopter crashes in Strait of Hormuz – Crew rescued by navy drone.
In an interview he gave to the website Axios, Donald Trump revealed that during his phone call with the Israeli prime minister on Monday, he warned him that if he continues hostilities with Iran, he should not count on any kind of American help.
“I told him: ‘Bibi, be careful, otherwise you will be alone very soon,'” the American president said, expressing his displeasure over the previous Israeli bombing of southern Beirut.
Advance notices
In the same interview, Trump appeared optimistic about the prospect of an agreement with the Iran within the next few days – something he has repeated at least 37 times since the April 8 truce, with nothing so far to justify him. “It will prevent Iran from getting a nuclear weapon and stop (uranium) enrichment. It’s an amazing deal. We will take what we want,” he claimed.
He said early Tuesday morning that US diplomacy was “in the final stages” of reaching an agreement, suggesting it could happen “within two or three days”. He had previously attended an NBA (professional basketball league) finals game in New York, where many fans loudly booed him. An Ipsos poll for Reuters estimated his popularity at 35%, close to the lowest levels of his entire political career.
The American president’s optimism about the prospects of reaching an agreement is not confirmed by Tehran. The speaker of the parliament and the head of the Iranian negotiating team, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, said that Iran “has no confidence in the other side” and that Trump’s statements about the content of the negotiated “memorandum of understanding” between the two countries do not correspond to reality, which proves, in his opinion, that Washington “seeks neither a ceasefire nor dialogue.” The Iranian official added that his country changed the terms of the Lebanon debate with the military strikes it launched against Israel and that the Iranian leadership’s goal in the negotiations “is to end the war and not to normalize our relations with the US.”
The other point of view
Completely different messages are being sent from Washington. Speaking at his event Atlantic CouncilUS Energy Secretary Chris Wright said shipping through the Strait of Hormuz has increased “substantially” in the past two weeks thanks to US military pressure on Iran. The Americans are trying to weaken Iran’s control of the Straits, hoping that by doing so they will force it to adopt more accommodating positions in negotiations.
Meanwhile, Trump yesterday blamed Iran for shooting down a US Apache attack helicopter on patrol over the Strait of Hormuz, with the US president vowing that the US would respond. The plane’s two pilots, who were picked up by an unmanned lifeboat-drone, are in good health, according to Trump.
Minutes before the American president announced the demolition, the head of the Iranian negotiating team, Mohammad Ghalibaf, wrote on Platform X: “We prefer the language of diplomacy, but we speak other languages fluently. Break your commitments and we’ll choose the language we speak best.”
