As Israeli strikes resume, there are no guarantees for people in Beirutpublished at 07:30 British Summer Time
Nafiseh Kohnavard
Middle East correspondent, BBC World Service, in Beirut
The air strikes on Beirut this morning came less than 24 hours after Lebanese prime minister Najib Mikati told Al Jazeera that the US had given “some kind of a
guarantee” that Israel would de-escalate in Beirut and its suburbs.
But in the same hour the interview was being broadcast, here in Beirut, Israeli surveillance drones
were flying low across the city, and Israeli
jets caused sonic booms that sounded like
actual explosions.
There had been days of anonymous quotes from US, Israeli and Lebanese officials
regarding “a guarantee to stop attacks on Beirut and its southern suburbs”.
Even Israeli media reported that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the pause after talking to US President Joe Biden. Although this was denied
by Netanyahu himself, some Israeli channels quoted unknown officials that
such agreement was in place.
As we reported earlier, Israel says its air force
targeted an underground Hezbollah weapons site.
Whatever the target was, the strikes sent a message that there is no guarantee that Beirut and its southern suburb
will be excluded from Israeli attacks.
People in Beirut are back to square one – with PM Mikati’s words vanishing in the air.
Image source, ReutersDisplaced people in Beirut, in a school turned shelter