Israeli PM Netanyahu orders IDF to strike Hezbollah stronghold in Beirut

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Israel Katz on Monday (June 1) said they ordered strikes on the Dahiyeh suburb of Beirut, a stronghold of the Hezbollah group. "Following the Hezbollah terrorist organisation's repeated and ongoing violations of the ceasefire in Lebanon and its attacks against our civilians and cities, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Israel Katz have instructed the IDF to strike terror targets in the Dahia Quarter of Beirut," a joint statement from the two officials said.

The order came amid what Israeli officials described as persistent ceasefire violations and continued attacks by Hezbollah against Israeli civilians and cities. Netanyahu and Katz framed the strikes as a direct response to what they characterised as Hezbollah's repeated and ongoing transgressions, citing the need to target what they described as terror infrastructure in the Beirut suburb.

Dahiyeh is a densely populated southern suburb of the Lebanese capital and has long been considered a Hezbollah stronghold. In the past, it has been targeted by Israeli strikes during periods of escalation between the two sides. The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) were instructed to carry out the operation on the orders of both the prime minister and the defence minister, the joint statement confirmed.

Also, Iran has made halting the fighting in Lebanon a prerequisite for any agreement with the US to bring the broader West Asia war to an end, Iran's Foreign Ministry declared on Monday (June 1). Speaking at his weekly press briefing, foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said a cessation of hostilities in Lebanon was not a peripheral demand but a core requirement. "We insist that a ceasefire in Lebanon is an essential condition for any deal aimed at ending the war," he said, as Israel continued to press its offensive in the country.