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IDF denies it has ended bombings of Beirut over US pressure

Netanyahu reportedly instructed Israeli military not to strike Beirut, following phone call with President Biden.

By David Rosenberg, World Israel News

A senior Israeli official denied Monday that the IDF has avoided striking at Hezbollah targets in Lebanon’s capital due to pressure from President Joe Biden on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Last Wednesday, Biden and Netanyahu spoke on the phone, the first direct contact between the two leaders in six weeks.

According to a report by Yedioth Aharanoth, Biden demanded Netanyahu sharply cut back the number of airstrikes in populated areas, in particular Beirut, where the Iran-backed Hezbollah terror organization’s headquarters are located.

While a pair of airstrikes targeting senior Hezbollah operative Wafiq Safa were carried out in Beirut’s Dahieh neighborhood last Thursday, since then, no strikes have been reported in the Lebanese capital.

According to Lebanon’s health ministry, 18 people were killed in the two strikes Thursday, with 92 others injured.

Israel’s public broadcaster, Kan, also reported over the weekend that the IDF had been ordered to halt airstrikes against Hezbollah positions in Beirut.

On Monday, however, a senior Israeli official pushed back against the reports, saying that the IDF was not restricted in its attacks against terrorists in Lebanon, adding that the Israel Air Force would strike in Beirut again within the next few days.

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“Israel attacks everywhere in Lebanon, including Beirut. We proved this recently, and we will prove it again in the coming days, in accordance with operational considerations,” the official said, according to a report by The Times of Israel.

President Biden on Friday said his administration is “absolutely, positively” urging Israel to avoid airstrikes in areas where United Nations peacekeepers are currently deployed.

The comments came after five peacekeepers from the United Nations Interim Force In Lebanon (UNIFIL) were injured in several IDF airstrikes last week, including on conducted to provide cover for the evacuation of wounded IDF soldiers.