Netanyahu says after a talk with Trump that he has “freedom of action” in Lebanon. “Hezbollah is trying to sabotage a historic peace”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Friday that he had “an excellent conversation” with US President Donald Trump and that Israel maintains its “freedom of action” in Lebanon, reports the EFE agency, taken over by Agerpres.
“I had an excellent conversation with President Trump. He is putting strong pressure on Iran, both economically and militarily. We are working in full cooperation,” Netanyahu said in a recorded statement.
Immediately afterwards, he briefly addressed the situation in Lebanon. “We initiated a process to achieve a historic peace between Israel and Lebanon, and it is clear that Hezbollah is trying to sabotage it. We maintain full freedom of action against any threat, including emerging ones. We attacked yesterday and we are also attacking today,” the Israeli prime minister said.
New attacks against Hezbollah positions
Hours earlier, the Israeli army issued an evacuation order for residents of the southwestern Lebanese city of Deir Amas, ahead of an imminent attack by the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) “as a result of terrorist activity by Hezbollah.”
This evacuation order came after Trump announced a three-week extension of the truce, following negotiations held at the White House on Thursday between Lebanese and Israeli diplomats.
The attack in Deir Amas was not the only one carried out in Lebanon on Friday by Israel, which also announced the strike of a rocket launcher allegedly used by the pro-Iranian Shiite group Hezbollah against the Israeli border village of Shtula.
The Lebanese government rejected Iran's involvement in the talks it is having with the US and Israel, despite the protests of Hezbollah, a group also excluded from the negotiations by the government in Beirut.
After the US and Israel launched the war against Iran on February 28, the Israeli military began a campaign of airstrikes on March 2 and then a ground offensive on Lebanese territory against Hezbollah.
Until the truce started on April 16, the death toll in Lebanon was at least 2,294 dead and 7,544 wounded, and over a million people were displaced.
