Hamas called the IDF retaliatory strike on Beirut, targeting Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr a dangerous escalation, as the White House said Israel has a right to defend itself against Iranian back threats.
“Our commitment to Israel’s security is ironclad and unwavering against all Iran-backed threats, including Lebanese Hezbollah,” US National Security Council spokeswoman Adrienne Watson said.
“Israel has a right to defend itself against the severe threats it faces. “At the same time, the United States is continuing to work on a diplomatic solution to end these terrible attacks and allow citizens on both sides to safely return to their homes,” she stated.
The Iranian proxy group Hamas, which operates in both Lebanon and Gaza said, "We strongly condemn the brutal Zionist aggression against Lebanon and the brotherly Lebanese people.”
“We consider it a dangerous escalation for which the Nazi-Zionist occupation bears full responsibility,” it stated.
The attack comes as Hamas and Israel are negotiating a hostage and ceasefire deal.
World leaders in discussion
Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke with his Egyptian counterpart Badr Abdelatty about the deal earlier in the day.
Blinken “emphasized the importance of a ceasefire agreement to furthering broader regional stability, including by unlocking the possibility of a diplomatic solution to the conflict across the Blue Line” on Israel’s northern border with Lebanon.
US officials had urged Israel not to strike at Beirut in retaliation for the children’s death, even though the Iranian proxy group Hezbollah is located there.
According to a US government website, “Shukr played a central role in the October 23, 1983 bombing of the US Marine Corps Barracks in Beirut which killed 241 US military personnel and wounded 128 others” and the US had offered a five million dollar reward for information about his whereabouts.
The strike occurred after the security cabinet authorized Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant to retaliate but did not detail what the response would be.
Gallant had only one brief comment after that attack, which he issued both in Hebrew and in English, stating: “Hezbollah crossed the red line.”
Netanyahu held security consultations in the Defense Ministry headquarters on Tuesday night, in the aftermath of the strike. Gallant, Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, IDF Chief-of-Staff Herzl Halevi, Mossad Chief David Barnea, and Shin Bet head Ronen Bar.
The Russian Foreign Ministry warned that the strike was “a flagrant violation of international law,” according to the Russian state-run TASS news agency.
Lebanon’s Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib said on Tuesday that his government condemned the strike and planned to file a complaint to the United Nations.
“We were not expecting them to hit Beirut and they hit Beirut." He said he hoped any response by Hezbollah "will be proportionate and will not be more than that, so that this wave of killing, hitting and shelling will stop.”
The Iranian-backed Houthis denounced the “Zionist aggression” which it said targeted “civilians and civilian facilities in … flagrant violation of Lebanon's sovereignty and international humanitarian law.”
Syria and Iran also condemned the attack.
White House Press Secretary Katherine Jean-Pierre told reporters the US still believed diplomacy was possible, adding that the US did not want to see an all-out war.”
“We have to continue to be optimistic here. I think it’s important to have a diplomatic solution. We do not want to see an escalation. We do not want to see an online war,” she said.
IDF Spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said, “We prefer to resolve hostilities without a wider war, but the IDF is prepared for any scenario.’
“Israel will continue to act to defend all people of Israel.”
US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin told reporters in the Philippines earlier in the day that the US would help Israel defend itself should a full-scale war break out with Lebanon.
“We remain concerned about the potential of this escalating into a full fight. And I don’t believe that a fight is inevitable,” Austin said.
“I think that you know, we’d like to see things resolved in a diplomatic fashion,” he said, ducking a question about whether Israel could manage a full-out war with Lebanon as it battled Hamas in Gaza.
“Israel will do what it needs to defend itself. And it’s demonstrated that you know, time and again.
“Certainly that’s not a scenario that we’d like to see occur,” Austin said.
He pledged US support for Israel’s self-defense but was vague as to whether Washington would once again lead a coalition of five armies to protect Israel, as it did in April when the Jewish state was under attack by Iranian drones and missiles.
“If Israel is attacked… we will help Israel defend itself. We’ve been clear about that from the very beginning, but again, we don’t want to see that happen,” he stated.
Foreign Secretary David Lammy urged British citizens to leave Lebanon immediately and not travel to northern Israel or the Golan Heights due to the risk of an all-out war.
“We will do all we can to prevent the outbreak of full-scale conflict,” Lammy told the UK parliament, stressing that “the risk is rising.”
“I therefore want to underline the government’s advice to British nationals, we advise against all travel to the north of Israel and the north of the Golan Heights, and against all travel to Lebanon,” he stated.
Lammy referenced close to ten months of cross-border violence between the IDF and Hezbollah in southern Lebanon.“There are frequent artillery exchanges and air strikes. Tensions are high, and the situation could deteriorate rapidly.” Lammy stated.
“If this conflict escalates, the government cannot guarantee we’ll be able to evacuate everyone immediately,” he said.Those who do not heed these instructions, he said, “may be forced to shelter in place.”
“History teaches us that in a crisis like this one, it is far safer to leave while commercial flights are still running rather than running the risk of becoming trapped in a war zone.
“My message then to British nationals in Lebanon is therefore quite simple, leave,” he said.The United States has asked its citizens not to travel to southern Lebanon.
Greece’s Aegean Airlines and Germany’s Condor canceled flights to Beirut on Tuesday, the latest airlines to suspend services to the Lebanese capital in recent days as tensions escalate between Israel and Hezbollah.
Aegean said it would suspend flights until Thursday, while Condor canceled Tuesday’s flight from Dusseldorf.
Air France and Lufthansa Group carriers Swiss, Eurowings, and Lufthansa announced flight cancellations on Monday.
A number of other carriers have suspended, delayed, or canceled some flights, although Beirut’s Rafic Hariri International Airport listed arrivals on Tuesday from airlines including Pegasus, Emirates, Royal Jordanian, EgyptAir, Iran Air, Qatar Airways, and Etihad.
Maariv, citing a report in the Saudi channel Al-Hadat on Tuesday, stated that US warships were making their way towards the coast of Lebanon.
Reuters contributed to this report....