On Wednesday, Israeli jets struck the Nabatieh al-Fawqa area and the outskirts of neighboring Kfar Tebnit, according to Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency (NNA) — the Israeli military has not yet commented but has previously stated it is targeting the Iran-backed armed group Hezbollah.
Trump Criticizes Israel’s Actions at G7 Summit
Speaking at the G7 summit in France, Trump said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu needed “to be more responsible with respect to Lebanon.” He also noted that Israel had been fighting Hezbollah for “too long and too many people are being killed.”
U.S.-Iran Agreement Expected to Include Lebanon
The text of a deal between the US and Iran to end the war has not been released, but mediator Pakistan says it includes Lebanon. Iran’s Foreign Minister. Abbas Araghchi, has warned that any Israeli attack on Lebanon or continued Israeli military presence in Lebanese territory would be considered a violation of the interim agreement.
Both Israel and Hezbollah have carried out attacks against each other since the US-Iran agreement was announced on Sunday night. Earlier that day, an Israeli air strike on Beirut in response to a cross-border rocket attack by Hezbollah had put pressure on attempts to finalize the deal.
Trump Claims Deal is Better Than Obama’s
Trump told the G7 that he had a “great relationship” with Netanyahu but said he “didn’t like that he did an attack… that was too much.” He added: “Without the United States, there would be no Israel. Without me, there would be no Israel because no other president was willing to do what I did.”
Netanyahu said on Monday that his country’s forces would remain in Lebanon “for as long as necessary.” Trump has argued that the new deal would be better than the one negotiated by former President Barack Obama. “We didn’t pay for it like Obama did. He paid billions of dollars,” Trump said on Tuesday.
Under the 2015 Joint Wide-ranging Plan of Action (JCPOA) with the US and five other world powers, Iran agreed to limit its nuclear activities and allow international inspections in return for sanctions relief and the release of frozen funds.
The contents of the agreement,referred to as a memorandum of understanding—have not been officially released. Both sides were expected to sign the deal on Friday in the Swiss resort of Bürgenstock, according to Switzerland’s Foreign Ministry as reported by the Schweiz Heute newspaper.
Trump said he would likely hold a news conference to publicly read the agreement between the US and Iran “word by word.” He also said the deal meant Iran would “never have a nuclear weapon” and that the major Strait of Hormuz waterway in the Gulf would reopen and be “toll-free.”
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