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Tehran vows payback after Israel attacks Beirut despite truce

• Ghalibaf says violation makes US, Israeli assets ‘legitimate targets’ • Trump calls for ‘surgical attacks’ against Hezbollah • Lebanese army says its chief travelled to Pakistan to meet top officials SMOKE rises after an Israeli airstrike targeted Tyre.—AFP BEIRUT: Israeli warplanes struck Beirut’s sou­thern suburbs on Sunday, hitting apartments in two residential buildings in the densely-populated Ta­­h­­w­itat al-Ghadir area, de­s­pite a US-broke­red ce­a­­s­efire between the Leb­a­n­e­se government and Israel. These were the first attacks on the Lebanese capital since Presi­dent Donald Trump announced a truce plan for Lebanon last week. While the latest Israeli strikes cla­i­med two lives, Israel’s continued att­a­cks on Lebanon have killed at least 3,613 people and wounded 11,072 others since Israeli forces along with the US launched the war on Iran. Iran’s chief peace negotiator, parliamentary spe­a­ker Moham­med Bag­her Ghalibaf, said US bases and Israeli assets were legitimate targets beca­use of hostile acts including the “violation of agre­e­ments over Lebanon”. Tehran has long said any peace deal with the United Sta­tes would depend on a ceasefire, also holding in Lebanon. “They showed that they only understand the language of power,” he wrote on X. Ebrahim Rezaei, an influential lawmaker who also serves as spo­k­esperson for parliament’s natio­nal security committee, posted on X that Iran would deliver a “decisive and painful response” to Sunday’s Israeli strikes on Lebanon. Although he has leaned on Israel to scale back its war against Lebanon to allow room for a peace deal with Iran, US Presi­dent Donald Trump called for “more surgical strikes” against Hezbollah in Lebanon, in an interview broadcast on Sunday. “I’d like to see Lebanon have a better life. I’d like to see a more surgical attack on Hezbollah. I think it should be more surgical,” he remarked. Asked whether he was demanding that Lebanon be included in the Iran deal, Trump replied: “No, no.” “Not at all. I’m not dem­a­n­ding,” he said. “I think they’d like to see it, but I’m not demanding.” Trump has said previously he would like to “separate” the discussions on Lebanon from the negotiations on an agr­eement with Iran, while Tehran wants to link the two conflicts. But Israel has never fu­lly halted its attacks on Lebanon, which have killed thousands of people and driven hundreds of thousands from their homes. Hezbollah, which was not party to the US-brok­ered tru­ce, has made it clear that it would not give up weapons unless Israel withdraws its troops from Lebanon. Elsewhere in Beirut on Sunday, mourners held a military funeral for Brigadier General Wissam Sabra, a senior military officer killed in a strike on his vehicle. Earlier on Saturday, Leba­non’s army said its commander General Rud­olf Haykal had departed for Pakistan, which is currently making efforts to mediate an end to the US-Isr­aeli conflict with Iran, which has also spilled into Lebanon. The Lebanese army said the visit was at the invitation of Haykal’s Pakistani counterpart, Field Marshal Asim Munir, but did not immediately provide further details on its purpose or duration. There was no official word from Inter-Services Public Relations at the time of going to press. Published in Dawn, June 8th, 2026