Cooper: Israel’s Lebanon strikes ‘deeply damaging’ as ceasefire teeters

Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said she is “deeply troubled” by Israel’s strikes on Lebanon.

Speaking on Sky News,  she said: “I’m deeply troubled about the escalating attacks that we saw from Israel in Lebanon yesterday.

“We’ve seen the humanitarian consequences, the huge mass displacement of people in Lebanon.”

Israel carried out over 100 strikes on what it said were Hezbollah targets in Beirut on Wednesday in retaliation for earlier attacks by the terrorist group.

On Thursday, the IDF said among those killed was Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem.

“Harshi was a close associate and personal advisor to Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem, and played a central role in managing his office and his security,” the IDF said in a statement.

Meanwhile, the IDF also said that overnight it struck two “central” Litani River crossings that were used by Hezbollah to transfer “thousands of weapons, rockets, and launchers” into southern Lebanon.

On Wednesday, inthe span of 10 minutes, Israel targeted more than 100 sites across Lebanon, the IDF said, describing it as the largest coordinated strikes on the country since the war began. The strike sites were located in Beirut, Beqaa and southern Lebanon, claiming they were linked to Hezbollah

According to the Lebanese health ministry, at least 182 people were killed, a number that is likely to be higher, and 890 were wounded.

Pakistan – which mediated the US-Iran ceasefire – initially said Lebanon was included in the deal. But Israel and Donald Trump said it was not and carried on with air strikes.

The UK foreign secretary insisted  Lebanon should be “urgently included” in the conditional two-week ceasefire agreement between the United States and Iran.

Appearing on the BBC’s Today programme, when questioned whether Iran would put pressure on Hezbollah to stop firing rockets into Israel from Lebanon, Iran’s deputy foreign minister Saeed Khatibzadeh, said: “It’s quite clear Hezbollah is a pure Lebanese freedom movement.”  He also stopped short of denying links with Iran.

On Times Radio, Cooper  added: “One of the things I do feel very strongly about is we want to see Lebanon included in the ceasefire.

“We want it extended to cover Lebanon, because otherwise that will destabilise the whole region, and also it’s just the right thing to do.

“That escalation that we saw from Israel yesterday, I think, was deeply damaging, and we want to see an end to hostilities in Lebanon.

“That does mean dealing with the threat from Hezbollah, which is an Iranian proxy, has been a terrorist organisation, and it is really important that the Israeli government and the Lebanese government can work together to deal with that threat from Hezbollah.

“But we don’t want to see escalation. We want to see the ceasefire and the end to hostilities cover Lebanon as well.”

Despite the White House suggesting tolls could be used to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz, Cooper said the UK is firmly against the idea.

“We’re very strongly clear that there should be no tolls, there should be no charges”, she said, adding that freedom of navigation should mean navigation is free.

Cooper insisted many inside the US administration agree with her, and cited conversations with the US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, on the subject.

Iran’s deputy foreign minister has said his country “sent a message” to the US after closing the Strait of Hormuz again in response to Israeli attacks in Lebanon.

US President Donald Trump’s two-week pause in the bombing campaign, which hinges on Iran reopening the Strait of Hormuz for shipping, appeared to be under threat on Wednesday night as Iran closed it again following Israeli strikes on the Hezbollah terrorist group.

Vice President JD Vance, who will lead the US negotiation team in Pakistan on Saturday, said Israel may “check themselves a little bit” with strikes on Lebanon during the ceasefire. Vance restated that if Iran does not follow through on promises to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, the ceasefire will end.

Khatibzadeh, speaking to the BBC’s Today programme on Thursday, said: “It was a grave violation, intentional grave violation of the ceasefire.
“You cannot have a cake and eat it at the same time.

“That was the message that Iran sent quite clearly, crystal-clearly, to Washington and to the Oval Office last night.

Cooper said there is a “lot of work” to be done to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, and she would be meeting with the International Maritime Organisation later on Thursday about their proposal to get some of the first ships moving.

She also said it was “crucial” that Iran be barred from imposing tolls in the strait.