Israel Strikes Beirut in Latest Sabotage Attempt of U.S.-Iran Deal
The Israeli military struck the Dahiyeh district of Beirut’s southern suburbs on Sunday morning, killing three people and wounding 15 others. The attack comes on the same day U.S. President Donald Trump had publicly claimed a U.S.-Iran peace deal would be signed.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz confirmed the strikes in a joint statement, saying the IDF had hit “Hezbollah terror targets in the Dahiyeh district of Beirut.” They claim the strikes are in response to Hezbollah drones, despite Israel and Lebanon trading strikes on every previous day, with Israeli strikes far outnumbering those launched by Hezbollah.
As is the norm, Israel has not released any supporting evidence that the strike targeted anything belonging to Hezbollah. A video released by the country states that the building was a “Hezbollah command centre”. As no evidence has been produced, the fact on the ground is that Israel struck another residential building.
Trump and Iran have already been in public disagreement about when the deal may be signed. While Iran claims it may be signed over the upcoming days, Trump has insisted it would be signed today.
Iran has made Lebanon non-negotiable: Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has repeatedly stated the memorandum of understanding covers the conflict 'on all fronts, including Lebanon.' Iran had also warned that attacks on Beirut would result in Iranian strikes on Israel, a promise that Iran has already fulfilled the last time Israel attacked the Lebanese capital.
The timing is no coincidence. As we reported yesterday, Israel’s senior officials had already publicly pre-committed to violating the Lebanon terms Iran says any deal must include. Katz vowed last week Israel would not withdraw from Lebanon, publicly disagreeing with the deal before it has a chance to be signed. Bezalel Smotrich, the Finance Minister of Israel, threatened ten buildings would be destroyed in Dahiyeh for every shot fired by Hezbollah.
Senior Iranian lawmakers have threatened retaliation, saying the attack “will not be left unanswered”. Tehran has been consistent: an attack on Beirut is an attack on the deal. Israel knows this, that is why they attacked Beirut today.
We now have Israeli bombs falling on the city Iran says must be protected for any agreement to exist, on the day the agreement was supposed to be signed.
This is what sabotage looks like.