Israeli war on Hezbollah in Lebanon is not covered by the cease-fire between the United States and Iran, President Donald Trump said Wednesday.
"They were not included in the deal," Trump said, according to a social media post by PBS News Hour correspondent Liz Landers. He added that it was "because of Hezbollah," the Iran-backed group.
"That'll get taken care of too," he reportedly said, adding: "That's a separate skirmish."
Iran and the U.S. agreed on a two-week cease-fire and the temporary reopening of the Strait of Hormuz overnight under a last-ditch deal to avert a massive wave of strikes threatened by Trump.
The Israeli military announced a halt to attacks on Iranian targets, but Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Lebanon was not included in the ceasefire, although mediator Pakistan said it does.
Iran is weighing withdrawing from the cease-fire over Israel’s continued strikes on Lebanon, Fars news agency reported Wednesday, noting shipping had halted in Hormuz in protest.
Fars also reported that an anonymous military representative threatened Israel with further attacks if the attacks on Hezbollah continue.
In the view of the Iranian leadership, Israel is violating the ceasefire agreed with the U.S.
Israeli airstrikes hit several dense commercial and residential areas in central Beirut without warning on Wednesday afternoon, hours after the cease-fire was announced in the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran. Lebanon's health ministry said at least 89 people were killed and 700 were wounded.
The fleeting sense of relief among Lebanese after the ceasefire announcement turned into panic with what Israel's military called its largest coordinated strike in the current war, hitting what it called more than 100 Hezbollah targets within 10 minutes in Beirut, southern Lebanon and the eastern Bekaa Valley.
The military representative quoted in the Fars report interpreted the situation as confirming Tehran's suspicion that either Washington has no influence over the Israeli government, or the US Central Command (Centcom) is tacitly tolerating the Israeli attacks.
Also on Wednesday, Trump said talks on the Iran crisis would be held behind closed doors, and that "only one group of meaningful 'POINTS'" were acceptable to the United States, but gave no other details about the negotiations.
