Islamabad: In Isreal’s deadliest airstrikes across Lebanon on Thursday, over 250 lives were lost, thereby deepening strains on the fragile US-Iran ceasefire and casting doubt on President Donald Trump’s hard-earned truce.
With US-Iran peace talks set to be held across our border over the weekend, Pakistan’s capital Islamabad went into ‘lockdown’ mode.
Authorities barred access to a 3 km perimeter around the luxury five-star Serena Hotel, where US and Iranian delegations are expected to be put up. The hotel directed all guests to check out until Sunday, announcing it had been “requisitioned” for “an important event.”
Iran gave no indication of relaxing its blockade of the Strait of Hormuz as officials in Tehran declared that no deal was possible if Israel continued strikes in Lebanon.
Spot prices for oil paid by European and Asian refineries surged to nearly $150 a barrel, with premium spikes for items like jet fuel.
Israel, which invaded Lebanon last month, simultaneously with its Tehran offensive, to eradicate the Iran-backed Hezbollah, insisted its Lebanese operations lie beyond the ceasefire Trump unveiled recently.
The US has aligned with the Israeli stance, but Iran and mediator Pakistan maintained that Lebanon was included. Britain, France, and several other nations have urged extension of the truce to Lebanon.
A Pakistani source close to the negotiations revealed to Reuters that Pakistan is advancing ceasefires for Lebanon and Yemen, sites of Israeli hits on Iran-aligned militants: “It will be discussed during the (upcoming) talks and we will settle it.”
Israel claims Hezbollah chief’s nephew eliminated
Israel’s military announced on Thursday it had killed the nephew of Hezbollah secretary-general Naim Qassem — who doubled as his personal secretary — and demolished river crossings in southern Lebanon overnight.
Lebanese state media detailed Israeli bombardments on Beirut’s southern suburbs shortly before midnight and at dawn, alongside strikes on southern towns on Thursday morning.
Hezbollah, which had pledged to suspend attacks on Israel under the ceasefire, reversed course on Thursday, firing once over the border and twice at Israeli positions in southern Lebanon.
Lebanon observed a national day of mourning, shuttering state offices as rescue teams toiled through the night to retrieve the wounded and dead from buildings pulverized by Israeli strikes that skipped standard evacuation warnings.
Ambulances ferried victims on Thursday afternoon to Beirut’s Rafik Hariri University Hospital’s forensic wing. “We’re picking up body parts for the most part. It’s very rare that we find entire bodies intact,” one rescue worker told Reuters.
A grieving woman outside the hospital recounted to Reuters losing her entire family in a single strike, her words punctuated by tears.
Iran condemns strikes as ‘grave’ ceasefire violation
Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Saeed Khatibzadeh branded Israel’s Lebanese actions a “grave violation” in a BBC Radio interview. “It was a catastrophe, could actually end in more catastrophe, and this is the nature of this rogue behaviour that we are seeing from Israel in the whole Middle East.”
Domestically, Iran hailed the cessation of six weeks of aerial warfare with the US and Israel as an unqualified triumph for its clerical regime. Vast crowds gathered for the 40-day mourning rites for Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, slain on Day 1 of the war.
