Israel's military is set to resume strikes on Beirut after a US diplomatic initiative failed, hours before a UN Security Council meeting to discuss the Israeli escalation in Lebanon.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Israel Katz said in a joint statement that the military had been instructed to strike "Hezbollah targets" in Beirut's southern suburbs.
Israel has already carried out its deepest ground incursion into Lebanon in 26 years, including the occupation of Beaufort Castle.
The decision to attack Beirut comes after US Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and Mr Netanyahu as part of ongoing diplomatic efforts between Israel and Lebanon, a US official said.
To advance ongoing talks between Lebanon and Israel, Washington proposed a "clear sequence – Hezbollah must stop all attacks on Israel. In return, Israel would refrain from escalation in Beirut. This would create space for gradual de-escalation and an effective cessation of hostilities," the official said.
Lebanese and Israeli military leaders met at the Pentagon on Friday for a new round of US-backed talks, two weeks after agreeing to extend the Hezbollah-Israeli so-called ceasefire by 45 days, following talks between the two delegations at the US State Department.
"President Aoun tried to advance this proposal and secure an agreement. [Lebanon's Parliament] Speaker [Nabih] Berri's response was evasive and disappointing," the official added. "Berri claimed to 'guarantee' Hezbollah's commitment to a ceasefire, but placed the burden on Israel to stop shooting first, even though Hezbollah started this round of fighting on March 2, just as it started the previous war in 2023.
Hezbollah is following Tehran's lead. It clearly has no interest in the welfare of the Lebanese people. Iran wants to prolong the conflict in Lebanon so it can claim credit for 'saving the day'.
"The US does not expect Israel to absorb ongoing attacks on its civilians by a terrorist organisation. The fastest way to de-escalate and protect civilians on all sides is for Hezbollah to stop firing immediately."
Beirut and its southern suburbs had largely been spared Israeli strikes since April, after the US reassured Lebanese officials that Israel would not target the capital under a US-Iran ceasefire that took effect on April 8.
Lebanon was not formally part of the ceasefire arrangement, at Iran's insistence. However, Beirut was effectively included in the understanding and avoided the violence that continued across much of southern Lebanon despite a separate ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, Iran's ally.
Both sides continued to exchange fire, with Hezbollah relying primarily on drone attacks and Israel intensifying ground operations and incursions to occupy more land in southern Lebanon.
On Monday, Iran signalled that any final agreement with Washington would have to include a lasting ceasefire in Lebanon, where its main proxy, Hezbollah, has been fighting Israeli troops. "A ceasefire in Lebanon is an inalienable part of any ceasefire and any final agreement to end the war," Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said.
The fighting in Lebanon has been the broadest spillover of the Iran war, displacing more than 1.2 million Lebanese through Israeli strikes and forced displacement warnings since March 2, when Hezbollah resumed firing rockets and drones into Israel to back its ally Iran.
Israeli strikes have so far killed more than 3,370 people, according to the Lebanese government. Israel says 24 of its soldiers and four civilians have been killed over the same period. Tens of thousands of Israelis in the country's north have also been displaced by Hezbollah rockets and drones.
France has requested an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council on Monday in response to continuing Israeli army escalation in Lebanon, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot has told Lebanese Foreign Minister Youssef Rajji.
