Israeli airstrikes killed eight people in Lebanon early on Tuesday, hours after US President Donald Trump claimed a peace deal with Iran was just days away – the 37th time he has promised an imminent end to the war.
The attacks on the southern city of Tyre and the neighbouring Nabatieh region came after Israel issued evacuation orders, warning residents that their presence near Hezbollah elements endangered their lives. Among the dead was a 16-year-old boy, according to local reports.
“Israeli airstrikes kill eight in Lebanon as Trump claims peace deal with Iran is close for the 37th time.”
The strikes threaten to unravel a US-brokered ceasefire that has been in place since April, and which both sides suspended on Monday afternoon. Iran had warned that any attack on Lebanon would prompt a more “severe” response. Iran’s state TV reported that at least two members of an Iranian air defence unit were killed in Israeli strikes on Monday.
Trump, speaking to reporters at the NBA finals in New York, said: “They were going back and forth [with strikes], and now they both agreed, through me, to stop, and now we’re in the final throes of what will be a very, very good deal.” He added that the agreement would stop Iran from having nuclear weapons and reopen the Strait of Hormuz “immediately upon signing” – which he said could happen “in two or three days”.
This is the 16th time Trump has claimed a peace deal is close, according to the Mirror, while Metro reports that he has promised peace 37 times since the war began in February. Dr Katayoun Shahandeh from the University of London told Metro: “There is an old saying: fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me. When he says a deal with Iran is close, the question is not simply whether he believes it. The question is, who pays the price when that claim collapses? The answer is, again and again, the Iranian people.”
Trump on Monday insisted that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had not defied him by launching strikes on Iran. In a brief phone call with the BBC, Trump said the missiles were “already on their way” when he spoke with Netanyahu, adding: “If I tell him to do something, he does it.” According to the Times of Israel, Netanyahu called off a major strike on Iran after the conversation.
The attacks on Lebanon came as mediators, led predominantly by Pakistan, have been trying to broker a deal. Iran and the US remain at odds over key demands: the US wants Iran to give up its stockpile of highly enriched uranium, while Iran insists on sanctions relief and the release of frozen assets before any final agreement.
Dr Shahandeh said: “Iran is a rational political actor… It understands that time, geography, regional alliances and strategic patience can be more powerful than spectacle.”