Iran’s UN Mission Warns Israel of 'Obliterating War' if it Attacks Lebanon

Israel’s air-defense missiles intercept rockets launched by Hezbollah near the Lebanese border (Reuters)
Israel’s air-defense missiles intercept rockets launched by Hezbollah near the Lebanese border (Reuters)
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Iran’s UN Mission Warns Israel of 'Obliterating War' if it Attacks Lebanon

Israel’s air-defense missiles intercept rockets launched by Hezbollah near the Lebanese border (Reuters)
Israel’s air-defense missiles intercept rockets launched by Hezbollah near the Lebanese border (Reuters)

Iran's UN mission said on Friday that if Israel embarks on a "full-scale military aggression" in Lebanon, "an obliterating war will ensue."

The Iranian mission also said in the post on X that in such an event "all options, incl. the full involvement of all resistance fronts, are on the table."

Israel’s military said Friday that about 25 rockets were launched from Lebanon toward northern Israel, damaging a building and setting fires as tensions between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah threaten to spiral into a full-blown war.

Israeli artillery bombarded the sources of the rocket fire, and the military said Israeli warplanes also struck what it described as Hezbollah infrastructure in the area of Jabal Safi, north of the city of Nabatieh.

Israel’s air defense system also failed to intercept three drones from Lebanon that flew into Israeli airspace, the military said. Firefighters were dispatched in the north to try to extinguish the blazes.

The cross-border fire came as Israel’s defense minister told troops on the northern border that he still sought a diplomatic agreement to calm tensions along the border but that the military was prepared to fight.

“We are not looking for war but we are ready for it,” Yoav Gallant said. He said that if Hezbollah “chooses to go to war, we will know what to do.”



Israel’s Smotrich: Stopping Gaza War Now Would be Folly

A woman walks with a girl past the rubble of a destroyed building in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip on July 8, 2024. (Photo by Bashar TALEB / AFP)
A woman walks with a girl past the rubble of a destroyed building in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip on July 8, 2024. (Photo by Bashar TALEB / AFP)
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Israel’s Smotrich: Stopping Gaza War Now Would be Folly

A woman walks with a girl past the rubble of a destroyed building in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip on July 8, 2024. (Photo by Bashar TALEB / AFP)
A woman walks with a girl past the rubble of a destroyed building in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip on July 8, 2024. (Photo by Bashar TALEB / AFP)

Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said on Monday it would be a huge mistake to stop Israel's military offensive in Gaza now.

Smotrich, who heads a pro-settler party which is part of Prime Minister Netanyahu's governing coalition, made the comment as Israeli officials continued talks via mediators about a possible ceasefire deal with Hamas.

He wrote on social media platform X: "Hamas is collapsing and begging for a ceasefire. This is the time to squeeze the neck until we crush and break the enemy. To stop now, just before the end, and let him recover and fight us again, is a senseless folly."

Several officials in the Middle East and the US believe the level of devastation in the Gaza Strip caused by the nine-month Israeli offensive likely has helped push Hamas to soften its demands for a ceasefire agreement.

Hamas over the weekend appeared to drop its longstanding demand that Israel promise to end the war as part of any ceasefire deal. The sudden shift has raised new hopes for progress in internationally brokered negotiations.

Netanyahu on Sunday boasted that military pressure — including Israel’s ongoing two-month offensive in the southern Gaza city of Rafah — “is what has led Hamas to enter negotiations.”