Ceasefire on the edge as Israel pounds Lebanon

FUTURE TENSE | Key Hezbollah leader killed, Netanyahu vows more attacks; Iran ups Hormuz ante; three journalists killed

Agencies

DUBAI

A tentative ceasefire in the Iran war staggered on Thursday under the weight of Israel’s bombardment of Lebanon that killed more than 250 people, Tehran’s continued chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz, and uncertainty over whether talks Islamabad can find common ground.

There was no sign Iran had lifted its blockade of the strait with Iran’s deputy foreign minister Saeed Khatibzadeh telling BBC his country will allow ships to pass through the waterway once the US ends its “aggression” and Isra­el stops attacking Lebanon.

Iran’s Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf warned that continued Israeli attacks on the Tehran-backed Hezbollah militant group in Lebanon would bring “explicit costs and strong responses”.

The reactions came as the Israeli military said it had killed Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem’s nephew Ali Yusuf Harshi, who had served as his personal secretary, as PM Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to continue striking the militant group “with force, precision and determination.”

Israel struck Beirut’s southern suburbs just before midnight and at dawn, and hit towns across the south on Thursday morning, Lebanese state media said. Hezbollah, which had initially said it would pause attacks on Israel in line with the ceasefire, said it was resuming them on Thursday morning and had fired once across the border and twice at Israeli forces in southern Lebanon.

Lebanon declared a day of national mourning and shut state offices, while rescuers worked through the night to free the wounded and the dead from under the rubble of buildings blasted apart by Israel without customary warnings to residents to flee.

Outside Beirut’s Rafik Hariri University Hospital, a steady stream of ambulances kept arriving throughout Thursday afternoon, driving past the emergency room entrance straight to the forensic department. In Iran, huge crowds turned out in Tehran, Kerm­anshah, Yazd and Zahedan to mark 40 days of mourning for the slain Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Meanwhile, PM Nawaf Salam has asked his Pakistani counterpart to confirm Lebanon’s inclusion in the ceasefire. Salam’s office said he telephoned Shehbaz Sharif, praising Islamabad’s efforts in securing the truce and asking him to “confirm the ceasefire includes Lebanon to prevent a recurrence of the Israeli atta­cks witnessed yesterday”. 

Sharif held a call with Salam. The Pak PMO said Isla­mabad “strongly condemned” Israel’s ongoing attacks. 

Furthermore, Israeli strikes on Wednesday killed an Al Jazeera correspondent in Gaza and two Lebanese journalists in that country.

Mohammed Wishah was targetted in a drone strike in west Gaza City. Israeli military’s Arabic-language spokesperson Avichay Adraee said on X Wishah was a member of Hamas, reposting a 2024 tweet that described him as a “prominent commander” in its military wing, among other positions.

In Lebanon, Ghada Dayekh, a presenter with Sawt Al-Farah, and Suzan Khalil, a reporter and presenter on Hezbollah’s Al-Manar TV and Al-Nour Radio, also died.