US Assured Lebanon that Israel Would Ease Beirut Strikes, Lebanese PM Says

Lebanon's caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati speaks during a press conference in Beirut, Lebanon October 2, 2024. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir/File Photo
Lebanon's caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati speaks during a press conference in Beirut, Lebanon October 2, 2024. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir/File Photo
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US Assured Lebanon that Israel Would Ease Beirut Strikes, Lebanese PM Says

Lebanon's caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati speaks during a press conference in Beirut, Lebanon October 2, 2024. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir/File Photo
Lebanon's caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati speaks during a press conference in Beirut, Lebanon October 2, 2024. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir/File Photo

US officials assured Lebanon that Israel would tamp down its strikes on Beirut and its southern suburbs, Lebanon's caretaker prime minister Najib Mikati said on Tuesday.

"During our contacts with the American authorities last week, we received a kind of guarantee to reduce the escalation in the southern suburbs and Beirut," Mikati said in a written statement distributed by his office, Reuters reported.

He did not provide further details on the assurances but said that Washington was "serious about pressuring Israel to reach a ceasefire".

Israel has not struck the southern suburbs of Lebanon's capital since late last week after hitting the area on a near nightly basis for weeks in attacks that destroyed buildings and killed scores of people. A number of senior figures from Hezbollah have been targeted in the area, including leader Hassan Nasrallah killed in a massive strike on Sept. 27, Reuters reported.

Mikati said international efforts were still underway to reach a ceasefire that would put an end to hostilities between the Israeli military and Hezbollah.

The hostilities had been playing out along Lebanon's southern border with Israel since October last year in parallel with Israel's offensive in Gaza that was triggered by Hamas' attack on southern Israel.

Israel dramatically escalated its bombing campaign of Lebanon in recent weeks, including Hezbollah's strongholds of south Lebanon, the southern suburbs of Beirut and the eastern Bekaa region. Other areas of Lebanon have also been hit.



Israeli Attack Targets Syria’s Homs Countryside, Syrian State Media Says

A man rides a motorbike past a damaged building in Homs, Syria November 7, 2024. (Reuters)
A man rides a motorbike past a damaged building in Homs, Syria November 7, 2024. (Reuters)
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Israeli Attack Targets Syria’s Homs Countryside, Syrian State Media Says

A man rides a motorbike past a damaged building in Homs, Syria November 7, 2024. (Reuters)
A man rides a motorbike past a damaged building in Homs, Syria November 7, 2024. (Reuters)

An Israeli attack targeted the area of Qusayr in the southern countryside of Homs province in central Syria, Syria's state media said on Wednesday.

Israel says it has been carrying out strikes to reduce the transfer of weapons from Iran through Syria to Hezbollah in Lebanon, which it said had spread to the town of Al-Qusayr, near the Syrian-Lebanese border.

Syrian media said that air defenses intercepted "hostile" targets over the Homs countryside.

The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Israel has been carrying out strikes against Iran-linked targets in Syria for years but has ramped up such raids since the Oct. 7, 2023 attack by armed group Hamas on Israel.