1 of 2 | Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday ordered attacks targeting Beirut in response to alleged cease-fire allegations by Hezbollah. Pool File Photo by Ilia Yefimovich/UPI | License Photo
June 1 (UPI) — U.S. President Donald Trump said he spoke with representatives for Israel and Hezbollah on Monday and that neither would attack the other side after Israeli Prime Minister earlier ordered attacks on a Beirut suburb.
Trump gave the update in a post on Truth Social.
“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 wrote.
“Likewise, through highly place 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.”
Earlier Monday, Netanyahu ordered the Israeli military to attack the predominantly Shiite Muslim southern Beirut suburb of Dahiyeh after his forces captured areas north of the Litani River over the weekend.
Netanyahu said in a statement that the Israeli strikes targeting Dahiyeh were “following repeated violations of the cease-fire in Lebanon by the Hezbollah terrorist organization and the attacks against our cities and citizens.”
He said it was a joint attack ordered with Defense Minister Israel Katz.
The Israeli military’s Arabic-language spokesman, Avichay Adraee, issued evacuation orders for residents located in Mleikah and Kafr Kila, saying the military was “compelled to act forcefully” against Hezbollah’s alleged cease-fire violations.
“For the sake of your safety, you must evacuate your homes immediately and stay away from the towns and villages by a distance of no less than 1,000 meters to open areas,” he said online.
“The Israel Defense Forces do not intend to harm you.”
The announcement came after the Israeli military said air raid sirens and alerts had been activated by intrusions in northern Israel emanating from Lebanon. The Israeli air force responded, intercepting at least one munition fired toward Israel, the Israeli military said.
The attacks were conducted after Israeli troops over the weekend advanced deep into southern Lebanon, capturing the medieval fortress of Beaufort and other areas north of the Litani River.
The incursion is the farthest north Israeli troops have advanced since they exited the fort in May 2000. Israel had captured Beaufort 18 years earlier in the First Lebanon War in 1982.
Meanwhile, President Joseph Aoun of Lebanon late Sunday said his country was facing “fierce and condemnable Israeli aggression.”
He said in a statement that Lebanon would work to “end the suffering of the Lebanese in general and southerners in particular, to put an end to their torment and to work to build the state, reform and justice.”
“We will neither deviate nor retreat,” he said.
