IDF attacks Hezbollah leadership after Bibi’s UN speech

The Israel Defense Forces on Friday claimed credit for attacks on the terrorist group Hezbollah’s main headquarters in Beruit. Israeli military conducted a precise airstrike on the center in Lebanon’s capital city, IDF spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said on Friday. Hezbollah built the center under a residential neighborhood as part of its strategy to use Lebanese people as human shields, he said.

The strike came shortly after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told world leaders at the United Nations headquarters in New York City that his country would not stop fighting Hezbollah until it accomplished its goals of keeping its citizens safe. Israel had the right to defend itself against Hezbollah’s aggression, he insisted.

So does that mean Israel is not pursuing a cease-fire? Netanyahu did not immediately respond to the cease-fire proposal earlier this week. His office on Friday said the United States and several partners this week presented Tel Aviv with a cease-fire proposal. Israeli officials talked the deal over with representatives from those countries, his office acknowledged. Israel appreciated the United States’ efforts to protect Israeli citizens, according to the statement. And Israeli officials would continue meeting with Western officials about the proposal.

Dig deeper: Read A.S. Ibrahim’s column in WORLD Opinions about how Tel Aviv is turning its attention from Hamas to Hezbollah as the first anniversary of the war approaches.