Lebanon's Mikati says US guaranteed Israeli 'de-escalation' on Beirut

Israel bombed eastern Lebanon after Netanyahu vowed to attack Hezbollah without mercy

An Israeli aerial assault on Deir Qanoun, as seen from Tyre, as attacks on Lebanon continue. AFP

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Lebanon's Prime Minister Najib Mikati said on Tuesday that his country received a US "guarantee" that Israel would reduce the escalation in the southern suburbs and Beirut, despite Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowing to continue attacks against Hezbollah without mercy.

"During our contacts with the US side last week, we received a form of guarantee to reduce the escalation in the southern suburbs and Beirut and the Americans are serious in pressuring Israel to reach a ceasefire", Mr Mikati said in statements to Al Jazeera channel, carried by Lebanon's National News Agency.

He added that ongoing efforts are aimed "to boost the army's role on the border and enforce the UN Security Council resolution 1701", which calls for the border area of southern Lebanon to be free of weapons or troops other than those of the Lebanese state.

He reiterated the Lebanese government's commitment to enforcing the resolution 1701 and sending army troops to the south.

Mr Mikati's remarks come as Israel's military carried out air strikes on Tuesday on eastern Lebanon, after Mr Netanyahu vowed to attack Hezbollah without mercy. Numerous air strikes hit the Bekaa Valley, putting a hospital in Baalbek city out of service, Lebanon's official National News Agency said.

"We will continue to strike Hezbollah without mercy everywhere in Lebanon – including Beirut," Mr Netanyahu said on Monday during a visit to a Golani Brigade training base. "Everything is according to operational considerations. We have proven this recently and we will continue to prove it in the coming days as well."

His threat came a day after four Israeli soldiers were killed in a Hezbollah drone attack on an Israeli base that also injured 60 others, rescuers said.

On Tuesday, the Iran-backed group said its fighters clashed with Israeli troops who were trying to infiltrate on the outskirts of Rab Tlatin village. Hezbollah also launched missiles at enemy soldiers, it said, as well as a barrage of rockets at northern Israel, while the military reported sirens blaring near the border.

Hezbollah also said its fighters shot down an Israeli military drone after midnight.

The group's Deputy Secretary-General Naim Qassem warned in a speech that if the war continues, "number of evacuated towns in northern Israel will increase, more than two million people will be in danger".

The Israeli army, meanwhile, said that over the past day its air force had struck more than 200 Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon and deep within the country, including anti-tank missile posts and surface-to-surface missile launchers. Troops killed dozens of Hezbollah fighters "in close-quarters combat" and in air strikes, dismantled militant infrastructure and found vast quantities of weaponry, it added.

The conflict between Israel and Hezbollah started a year ago when the militant group began firing rockets at Israel in support of its Palestinian ally Hamas at the start of the Gaza war. It has escalated sharply in recent weeks, with Mr Netanhayu's government vowing not to stop until tens of thousands of people displaced from their homes in northern Israel can return.

The conflict has killed at least 2,309 people and injured 10,782 others since October 8 last year, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry. At least 690,000 people have been displaced, according to figures last week from the International Organisation for Migration.

According to a report by The Washington Post on Tuesday, Mr Netanyahu has agreed to limit his country’s retaliation against Iran to military targets. Israel has vowed to counterattack after Iran fired ballistic missiles on October 1, launched in response to Israel's killing of Tehran-aligned militant leaders in the region, along with a general of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

The Prime Minister has told US President Joe Biden's administration that Israel would strike those types of targets rather than Iranian oil infrastructure or nuclear installations, the US paper reported, citing two official sources.

The Washington Post quoted one of the officials as saying the retaliation for the Iranian missile barrage on Israel would be calibrated to avoid the perception that Israel was interfering in next month’s US election. "‏We listen to the opinions of the United States but we will make our final decisions based on our national interests," Mr Netanyahu's office said, in a statement quoted in the newspaper article.

Mr Biden's administration has repeatedly urged Israel not to strike Iranian nuclear or energy sites over fears of the conflict in the Middle East escalating further.