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Beirut becomes the red line
Iran launched its first direct strikes on Israel in two months overnight on Sunday after weeks of warning that continuing Israeli attacks on Lebanon would jeopardise diplomacy, casting new doubts about the likelihood of a US-Iran peace deal.
“After weeks of warning that continuing Israeli attacks on Lebanon would jeopardise diplomacy, Iran launched its first direct strikes on Israel in two months overnight on Sunday, casting new doubts about the likelihood of a US-Iran peace deal”
The Al Jazeera report says Iran’s Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) warned, “Tonight’s operation was a warning, and if the aggressions are repeated, the responses will be broader and will encompass all American-Zionist targets in the region,” as Israel carried out multiple attacks across Iran on Monday including the capital Tehran.
Al Jazeera also ties the escalation to Lebanon’s capital, quoting senior fellow Negar Mortazavi saying, “Tehran had been tolerating recent Israeli attacks on southern Lebanon but drew a red line on Beirut.”
In the same account, Lebanon was drawn into the US and Israel’s war on Iran on March 2 after Tehran-aligned Hezbollah launched attacks on northern Israel, and Lebanon’s Health Ministry figures cited by Al Jazeera put deaths at 3,613 and injuries at 11,072 in Israeli attacks across Lebanon since fighting began again in March.
Al Jazeera adds that although a US-mediated ceasefire aimed at halting fighting between Israel and Hezbollah began on April 17, Israeli attacks continued throughout the following weeks, including on the capital Beirut where Israel said it is targeting a Hezbollah stronghold in the southern suburbs of the city.
Trump, Netanyahu and competing narratives
The Indian Express frames the exchange as a return to direct strikes “almost two months after a Pakistan-brokered ceasefire,” describing how Iran and Israel traded direct strikes over Sunday night and Monday and how “return to full-scale war looked imminent.”
In that account, US President Donald Trump posted on Truth Social, “Both sides, Israel and Iran, are looking to do an immediate CEASEFIRE!”, while the report says Iran announced it was halting its campaign as long as Israel too kept the peace.
Al Jazeera reports that Israel responded to Iran’s strikes by carrying out multiple attacks across Iran on Monday, including Tehran, despite US President Donald Trump reportedly telling Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu not to escalate.
Al Jazeera also quotes Trump in a separate post on Monday, saying, “Israel and Iran must immediately stop ‘shooting’,” as it describes Iranian missiles being largely intercepted and no-one reported killed in Israel.
The Indian Express further says the events raise questions about Trump’s ability to get Netanyahu to uphold American commitments, quoting Omair Anas saying, “Trump faces immense pressure to seal a deal before the next NATO summit in Ankara in July.”
What’s at stake next
Libnanews says Iran’s spokesman for the Iranian Foreign Ministry, Ismail Bagayi, stated that “a ceasefire in Lebanon must be part of any agreement to end the war,” linking any settlement to Beirut security and to discussions with Washington.
“On Monday, Ismail Bagayi, the spokesman for the Iranian Foreign Ministry, said that a ceasefire in Lebanon must be part of any agreement to end the war”
In the same report, Libnanews says Bagayi insisted that negotiations are conducted in an atmosphere of deep distrust and that “negotiations are not the result of trust between the interlocutors,” while also broadening the Lebanese question beyond direct confrontation between Israel and Hezbollah.
Libnanews also cites Lebanon’s Ministry of Health figures published Sunday evening, reporting 412 dead and 3 injuries and 269 injuries since March 2, and it says the figure shows an increase of 41 deaths and 140 injuries in 24 hours.
The Al Jazeera account adds that Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem rejected another conditional ceasefire, calling it a “farce” and stating that attacks on northern Israel would continue for as long as bombs were dropping on Lebanon.
Against that backdrop, Al Jazeera says the escalation raises a critical question about whether Iran’s direct attack in defence of Hezbollah has shown it is ready to enforce its red line that any Israeli attack on its allies will lead to direct Iranian attacks.
