Israel sent an indirect threat to Lebanon warning of strikes against major infrastructure sites unless the government took steps against Hezbollah, according to an Israeli official and a Lebanese source familiar with the matter.
The threat, sent through Cyprus, demanded that the Lebanese government declare Hezbollah a terrorist organization and dissolve its military and political wings, the Lebanese source said. If not, Israel said in the message that it would strike Lebanon’s airport, ports and other vital infrastructure, the source said.
CNN has reached out to Israel’s Foreign Ministry for comment.
On Monday morning, Lebanon’s government banned Hezbollah’s military and security activities, declaring them illegal, and called on the Iran-backed militant group to surrender its weapons. The announcement, which comes a day after Hezbollah launched an attack on Israel, represents a dramatic shift in the state’s policy.
One week ago, Lebanese Foreign Minister Youssef Raggi said they had “received warnings indicating that any intervention on the part of Hezbollah could prompt Israel to strike infrastructure targets.” The warning came before Israel and the US jointly struck Iran.
Raggi said on social media that he hoped Hezbollah “refrains from embarking on any new adventures and spares Lebanon further destruction.”
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth offered shifting timelines for how long US combat operations in Iran may last, declining to say Monday exactly how long American forces will be engaged in the ongoing fight.
Hegseth and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine, both reiterated Monday that the joint US-Israeli operation will continue until Trump believes all objectives have been accomplished — but to date has not clearly outlined exactly what those are.
Trump, himself, has floated various possible timelines for the US conflict with Iran, suggesting in multiple interviews on Sunday it may extend for four to five weeks.
Hegseth, meanwhile, was specifically asked about the US exit strategy but largely avoided that question. He said the mission is “very clear” to US service members but that he would not discuss any further details on the military’s plans.
“The mission for our war fighters, which is what matters to us, is very, very clear, and they’re executing it right now, violently,” Hegseth said.
“We know we have plans, we have generals, we have chairmans, we have commanders, CENTCOM commanders, Admiral (Brad) Cooper, who’s executing very deliberately to ensure outcomes that I laid out are accomplished, but we would never in front of a press pool lay out how long that may take,” the defense secretary added.
These are some the latest images we’re seeing from on the ground in the Middle East as the war spirals following the US and Israel’s first strikes on Iran on Saturday.
Countries across the region have found themselves embroiled in a regional conflict after the US and Israel attacked Iran on Saturday, with Tehran striking several of its neighbors, including a number of US-allied Gulf states, in retaliation.
Catch up on the latest here.
The impact of the strikes in Iran has given the United States “air superiority” over the country, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine said at a press briefing today.
“The combined impact of these strikes, swift, precise and overwhelming has resulted in the establishment of local air superiority. This air superiority will not only enhance the protection of our forces, but also allow them to continue the work over Iran,” Caine told reporters.
Caine also said additional US forces are continuing to flow into the region with more forces expected to arrive Monday.
“This deployment included thousands of service members from all branches, hundreds of advanced fourth and fifth generation fighters, dozens of refueling tankers, the Lincoln and Ford carrier strike group and their embarked air wings, sustained flow of munitions, fuel, supplies, all supported with command and control intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance network,” Caine said.
“And the flow of forces continues today,” he said. “In fact, Adm. (Brad) Cooper will receive additional forces even today,” referring to the commander of the United States Central Command.
CNN has reported that the US military was building up its posture in the Middle East for weeks and Caine said today it has had the intended effect to “daze and confuse” Iran. Efforts to knock out their space and cyber operations left them “without the ability to see, coordinate, or respond effectively.”
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth called on Iranians to “take advantage” of the opportunity for regime change, even as he said the war was not about ousting the government in Tehran.
“We hope the Iranian people take advantage of this incredible opportunity,” Hegseth said in remarks at a press briefing at the Pentagon Monday. “President Trump has been clear, now is your time.”
“We saw many, many of the Iranian people seek a change there,” he later added, referencing protests that swept Iran earlier this year. “This is their moment to take advantage of it.”
In the same press conference, Hegseth said “this is not a so-called regime change war, but the regime sure did change and the world is better off for it.”
US and Israeli military operations have killed numerous members of Iranian leadership, including the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei.
US President Donald Trump, in his first remarks after the start of the US and Israeli operation, had called on the Iranian people to “seize control of your destiny.”
“America is backing you with overwhelming strength and devastating force,” Trump said Saturday.
Countries across the Middle East have found themselves embroiled in a regional conflict after the US and Israel attacked Iran on Saturday, with Tehran striking several of its neighbors, including a number of US-allied Gulf states, in retaliation. Israel also launched attacks on Lebanon overnight, killing at least 31 people.
If you’re looking for a catch-up of the major developments over the weekend, take a look at our reporting here.
Here’s what’s been happening in the last couple of hours:
Speaking a short while ago, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the goal of the strikes on Iran was not regime change.
A fourth US service member has died after suffering injuries from an Iranian attack in Kuwait, the US military said. They were killed in the same attack that earlier killed three others, one US official and a source familiar with the situation told CNN.
Three US fighter jets were accidentally shot down by Kuwaiti air defenses, in an “apparent friendly fire incident,” the US military announced a short while ago.
The Lebanese government says it has banned the military and security activities of Hezbollah, an Iran-backed militant group, and announced that it is calling on the group to surrender its weapons.
Footage taken from inside Iran today has shown large explosions in the capital city of Tehran. Iranian state media outlets have also been sharing clips of explosions in several parts of central Tehran today.
Two drones have been intercepted over Cyprus, an EU member country in the eastern Mediterranean, after the US embassy warned of a “possible drone threat” to the island.
Qatar’s state-run energy company QatarEnergy has stopped its production of liquified natural gas following an Iranian attack on one of its facilities, the company said in a statement shared with CNN.
Iraq’s prime minister has instructed the country’s security agencies to confront “any act that harms security and stability,” state media reported.
The UN nuclear watchdog has said there is no indication the strikes on Iran have hit any nuclear facilities. Iran’s ambassador to the IAEA said Natanz — one of Iran’s three key Iranian nuclear facilities – had been attacked, Reuters reported.
A commercial vessel has been struck by two projectiles while docked at the Port of Bahrain, forcing the crew to evacuate, according to UK maritime authorities.
CNN’s Kaanita Iyer, Haley Britzky, Charbal Mallo, Tim Lister, Lauren Kent, Bijan Hosseini, Antoinette Radford, Eyad Kourdi, Kara Fox, Muhammad Darwish and Niamh Kennedy contributed to this reporting.
