Iran was on verge of responding to ceasefire violation but Pakistan intervened, says Tehran

Earlier, the Iranian deputy foreign minister accused Israel of launching a “surprise” attack on Lebanon and said that it constitutes “grave violation” of the ceasefire.

“It was a sort of genocide, you know, by the regime of Israel in Lebanon, just immediately after the ceasefire was accepted,” Khatibzadeh told BBC’s Today programme. He added that Washington needs to “choose between war and ceasefire,” adding that they can’t have both at the same given point of time.

Smoke rises following several Israeli airstrikes in Beirut, Lebanon. (AP Photo)

Israeli strikes on Lebanon killed over 200 people and wounded more than 1,000 on Wednesday, the Lebanese health ministry said. The Israeli military continued its strikes on Thursday and announced that it had killed an aide and nephew of Hezbollah leader Naim Kassem, Ali Yusuf Harshi, in the strikes.

Earlier, Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam called up Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif requesting for Islamabad’s support to immediately halt Israeli attacks on Lebanon, the Pakistan PMO said, Al Jazeera reported.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that Iran-backed militia Hezbollah group is not part of the ceasefire deal signed with Iran.