Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam delivered his sharpest rebuke yet of Hezbollah on Friday, urging the Iran-backed group to abandon what he called "absurd adventures in service of foreign interests" and stop dressing up "deaths, destruction and displacement" as victories.
Nawaf Salam © LMS
Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam delivered his sharpest rebuke yet of Hezbollah on Friday, urging the Iran-backed group to abandon what he called "absurd adventures in service of foreign interests" and stop dressing up "deaths, destruction and displacement" as victories.
Speaking at a Beirut charity dinner, Salam pushed back against accusations of treason levelled by Hezbollah officials in recent weeks, as his government pursues direct negotiations with Israel in Washington, a process the militant group vehemently opposes.
"Enough with the outbidding and treason accusations. They will never intimidate us," he said, reaffirming that Lebanon's decisions belong solely to its constitutional institutions, and its weapons solely to its national army.
The backdrop is grim. Despite a ceasefire agreed in late November 2024, Israel never fully withdrew from southern Lebanon. When Hezbollah entered the regional conflict alongside Iran in March 2026, Israel launched a ground offensive and now controls a strip of Lebanese territory stretching nearly eight kilometres deep, with open ambitions to turn it into a permanent buffer zone, occupying 68 villages and positions in the process.
The Washington talks have yielded a 45-day ceasefire extension. But the fundamental deadlock remains: Israel wants Hezbollah disarmed before pulling out; Lebanon wants a full Israeli withdrawal, unconditionally.
Ali al-Taher, the strategic ridge overlooking Nabatieh, was the site of a fresh Israeli military operation Thursday evening, with the army saying it destroyed "more than two kilometers of Hezbollah underground infrastructure" beneath the height, located north of the Litani River, roughly 15 kilometers from the Israeli border.
The lightning Houthi advance down Yemen's Red Sea coast this week came with direct guidance from Iran's Revolutionary Guards seeking to open a new front in Iran's war with the U.S., according to Yemeni government, Iranian and regional sources.
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman called U.S. President Donald Trump twice on Thursday and urged him to launch strikes against the Houthis, Axios reported, citing two U.S. officials.
To make this website run properly and to improve your experience, we use cookies. For more detailed information, please check our Cookie Policy.
Necessary cookies enable core functionality. The website cannot function properly without these cookies, and can only be disabled by changing your browser preferences.
