The News
Israel expanded its offensive in southern Lebanon Sunday, calling on the United Nations to evacuate its peacekeeping units and allegedly using tanks to burst through the gates of a peacekeeper base.
The call comes just days after Israeli forces injured several UN peacekeepers, drawing international criticism. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who has been a vocal supporter of Israel, spoke to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday and denounced the attacks.
The push marks the latest escalation in Israel’s onslaught against Hezbollah, an Iran-backed militant group and one of the most powerful political parties in Lebanon — despite its losses, Hezbollah is “falsely presenting Israeli ground operations as a failure in order to degrade Israeli will and underscore Hezbollah’s own resilience,” the Institute of War said in a recent report.
Meanwhile, Iran’s foreign minister pushed back on the idea Iran might not respond to an expected Israeli attack, warning that there are “no red lines” for such a defense and that Iran is prepared for a “war situation.”
