US lawmakers call for halt to Israeli aggression against Lebanon as Hezbollah retaliates 

Lebanon's Hezbollah resistance movement has launched a retaliatory strike following a deadly wave of Israeli attacks as US lawmakers urgently call on the administration to enforce a regional ceasefire and halt the Israeli bombing of civilians in Lebanon. 

Lebanon's Hezbollah resistance movement launched a rocket barrage towards an illegal settlement lying on the northern side of the occupied territories in response to earlier deadly Israeli strikes.

In a statement on Thursday, the movement said it had targeted the Manara settlement "in defense of Lebanon and its people, in response to the enemy's violation of the ceasefire agreement, and after the resistance adhered to the ceasefire while the enemy did not."

"This response will continue until the Israeli-American aggression against our country and our people ceases," the group stated.

Earlier, the Israeli regime targeted various areas throughout Lebanon, including the capital Beirut, killing at least 254 people and wounding 1,150 others.

Congressman Robert Garcia emphasized on X that the urgent need for diplomatic intervention, stating: "The U.S. must ensure that any ceasefire agreement includes Lebanon. Netanyahu is brutally bombing Beirut, killing civilians, and destroying critical infrastructure. This regional war must end now."

Rep. Jim McGovern echoed this sentiment in post on X, directly addressing the US President's role in the crisis: "Netanyahu's ongoing bombardment of Lebanon, which has killed civilians for weeks, threatens to plunge the region into even further chaos & unravel the ceasefire. Trump needs to stand up to Netanyahu. He needs to save the deal he negotiated. He has leverage. He should use it!"

Inside Lebanon, the country's leadership issued blistering condemnations. The Lebanese president, speaker, and prime minister strongly condemned on Wednesday the brutal Israeli aggression that hit multiple civilian areas across Lebanon, including Beirut, the South, and the Bekaa region.

In a statement published on the Lebanese presidency’s official account on X, President Joseph Aoun described the aggression as "savage", saying it violates all agreements and international norms and repeatedly demonstrates disregard for international laws and conventions.

He stressed that this escalation places full responsibility for its consequences on Israel, warning that continued aggressive policies will only deepen tension and instability at a time when de-escalation is urgently needed. He also called on the international community to assume its responsibilities to halt these repeated attacks and stop a dangerous pattern threatening regional security.

Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri described today’s Israeli aggression as “a fully fledged war crime.”

Berri said today’s aggression represents a serious test for the international community and a blatant challenge to international laws, norms, and conventions, which "Israel" is violating through its continued disregard for human life.

He added that the events are also a test for all Lebanese political, religious, and civil leaders to unite in the face of the bloodshed.

He further stressed that the timing of the escalation, coinciding with a declared regional ceasefire that Israel has failed to respect, amounts to a direct challenge to the international community and a flagrant violation of international law and conventions. He said "Israel" is persisting in an unprecedented campaign of killing civilians and destroying lives.

The regime has carried out numerous violations against a 2024 ceasefire deal it signed with Hezbollah, under which Tel Aviv was expected to end the deadly escalation towards Lebanon that had claimed thousands of lives.

Since February 28, when the regime and the United States began their latest bout of unprovoked aggression targeting Iran, Tel Aviv simultaneously ramped up its assaults on Lebanon.

On Wednesday, US President Donald Trump announced agreeing to a two-week ceasefire with Iran. Trump said a 10-point proposal forwarded by the Islamic Republic serves as a "workable basis on which to negotiate and the main framework for these talks."

The proposal underlines the need for cessation of aggression throughout the entire region, including in Lebanon, conditioning the Islamic Republic's stopping its defensive strikes on a halt to aggressors' regional atrocities.

The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) has announced that Iran was preparing a "regret-inducing response" to the renewed Israeli attacks on Lebanon, warning that any assault on Hezbollah was an assault on the Islamic Republic.

Meanwhile, Pakistan’s Ambassador to the US, Rizwan Saeed Sheikh, said on Wednesday afternoon that this was not the agreement the parties had reached the previous day.

He told CNN that the deal announced by his prime minister, which included Lebanon “could not have been more authentic” to what the two parties had agreed upon, and that it remained the prime minister’s understanding that Lebanon was included.

He added that this was another instance in which a ceasefire “could be disrupted” by Israel’s actions. He also noted that “there have been instances in the past where ceasefires have been disrupted,” referencing Israel’s routine violations of its previous ceasefire with Lebanon and the current one with Gaza, as well as its repeated assassinations of Iranian negotiators during indirect talks with the US.

Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, who played a key role in brokering the deal announced on Tuesday, said that “Iran and the United States of America, along with their allies, have agreed to an immediate ceasefire everywhere, including Lebanon and elsewhere, EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY.”

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