Israel to halt planned assault on Beirut after phone call, Trump says

Washington: Donald Trump said Israel was halting planned attacks on the Lebanese capital Beirut, which were threatening to derail the ceasefire between the US and Iran, after he spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The US president also claimed Hezbollah had agreed to a total ceasefire, and insisted talks with Iran were continuing “at a rapid pace” – despite reports from Iran’s state-affiliated media that suggested Tehran was suspending negotiations amid the uptick in violence.

Earlier, Israel issued evacuation warnings to residents of Dahiyeh, a Hezbollah stronghold in Beirut’s southern suburbs, and Netanyahu said he and Defence Minister Israel Katz had instructed Israeli forces to launch strikes against “terrorist targets” in the area.

This was in response to the “repeated and ongoing violations of the ceasefire in Lebanon by the terrorist organisation Hezbollah and the attacks against our cities and citizens”, Netanyahu said on X.

Despite the ceasefire, Israel has also launched a ground invasion, with troops making their deepest incursion into southern Lebanon in more than a quarter-century.

Trump, having earlier told news outlets that he would call Netanyahu to see “what’s going on with Lebanon”, suggested on social media that the attack in Beirut would not proceed – although he referred to troops, rather than air strikes, in his posts.

“I had a very productive call with Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu, of Israel, and there will be no Troops going to Beirut, and any Troops that are on their way, have already been turned back,” Trump said, using Netanyahu’s nickname.

“Likewise, through highly placed Representatives, I had a very good call with Hezbollah, and they agreed that all shooting will stop – That Israel will not attack them, and they will not attack Israel.”

The details of this were not immediately clear. Netanyahu had warned of strikes against Hezbollah targets in the area, not a ground invasion of southern Beirut.

Meanwhile, US news site Axios reported the speaker of Lebanon’s parliament had told the Trump administration that Hezbollah was ready for a full ceasefire with Israel.

In a separate social media post, Trump added “Talks are continuing, at a rapid pace, with the Islamic Republic of Iran. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”

However, the president conveyed an entirely different message in short phone interviews with several US media outlets on Monday (Washington time), in which he said the talks with Iran were becoming boring and that some time away from the negotiating table might be worthwhile.

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