US official backs Israeli strikes on Beirut, calls on Hezbollah to ‘stop firing,’ embrace truce

A US official defends Israel’s airstrikes against Hezbollah targets in Beirut after the group fired rockets at the country today, telling the Axios news site that Hezbollah is “exclusively to blame” for any escalation and warning that it must accept the US-backed ceasefire terms agreed to by Jerusalem and Beirut last week.

“The terms on the table are fair, have the consent of both sovereign governments, and provide a clear path to end the fighting. Hezbollah is exclusively to blame for any continuation of hostilities,” the official tells Axios. Hezbollah rejected the agreement reached last week, which would require the Iran-backed terror group to stop firing, withdraw from near the Israeli border, and would see Lebanon’s army deploy to new “pilot zones” in the area, where it will exercise exclusive control.

“Iran, Hezbollah, and others have repeatedly dragged both Israel and Lebanon into pointless and destructive conflicts,” the official continues, saying, “Hezbollah has a simple choice: it can continue fighting a pointless war, or it can finally allow the return of the displaced and the reconstruction of Lebanon.”

“The US supports Israel’s right to self-defense and stands with the legitimate government of Lebanon as it works to deliver a better future for its citizens,” the official says, condemning Hezbollah’s use of “civilian infrastructure, particularly civilian homes, to hide and store weapons,” and calling on the group to “stop firing immediately and allow these agreements to take effect.”

Israel reportedly updated the US ahead of the strikes, after it largely refrained from striking Beirut during the current conflict at the request of the White House, which fears it would harm Washington’s efforts to secure a ceasefire and future nuclear deal with Iran, which is conditioning any agreement on a truce in Lebanon.