Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday morning responded to Israel's attacks on Hezbollah targets in Lebanon and the elimination of the Ali Yusuf Harshi, nephew to Hezbollah Secretary General Naim Qassem.
"We continue to strike Hezbollah with power, precision, and determination," Netanyahu stated. "In Beirut, we eliminated Ali Yusuf Harshi, the personal secretary of Hezbollah Secretary General Naim Qassem and one of his closest associates."
"At the same time, overnight the IDF struck a series of terror infrastructure sites in southern Lebanon, including crossings used to transfer thousands of weapons, rockets, and launchers, as well as weapons depots, launchers, and Hezbollah command centers."
He continued: "Our message is clear: We will strike anyone who acts against Israeli civilians will be targeted. We will continue to strike Hezbollah wherever necessary until full security is restored for residents of the north."
Meanwhile, Iran has insisted that it will not send a delegation to Pakistan to take part in negotiations with the US, unless Israel ceases its strikes on Lebanon.
US Vice President JD Vance, who will head the talks, spoke to reporters during a visit to Budapest, explaining, "I think the Iranians thought that the cease-fire included Lebanon, and it just didn’t. We never made that promise. We never indicated that was going to be the case. What we said is that the cease-fire would be focused on Iran and the cease-fire would be focused on America’s allies."
"If Iran wants to let this negotiation fall apart, in a conflict where they were getting hammered, over Lebanon, which has nothing to do with them, and which the United States never once said was part of the cease-fire, that’s ultimately their choice. We think that would be dumb, but that’s their choice."
On Wednesday night, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt stressed that the US-Iran ceasefire agreement does not include Lebanon, and that all parties are aware of this.