'Netanyahu's contempt for international law intolerable,' says Spanish PM Sanchez amid Lebanon attacks

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez hit out at his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu over continued aggression in Lebanon, hours after the US and Iran agreed on a two-week ceasefire after six weeks of war in West Asia.

Sanchez said that Netanyahu's “contempt for life and international law is intolerable” and demanded that Lebanon be included in the ceasefire deal between the US and Iran. Sanchez has also urged the international community to condemn the violation of international law by the Israeli PM.

"Just today, Netanyahu launched his harshest attack against Lebanon since the offensive began. His contempt for life and international law is intolerable. It's time to speak clearly: Lebanon must be included in the ceasefire. The international community must condemn this new violation of international law. The European Union must suspend its Association Agreement with Israel. And there must be no impunity for these criminal acts," news agencies quoted the Spanish PM as saying on 9 April.

The remarks come after Iran on Wednesday blamed Israel for jeopardising the fragile ceasefire in the region to halt the hostilities for two weeks. Iran warned that continued attacks on Lebanon by Israeli forces could lead to the collapse of the agreement and renewed tensions in the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran's Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi warned that the US must choose between a ceasefire or to "continue war via Israel".

“The Iran-U.S. Ceasefire terms are clear and explicit: the U.S. must choose--ceasefire or continued war via Israel. It cannot have both. The world sees the massacres in Lebanon. The ball is in the U.S. court, and the world is watching whether it will act on its commitments,” Araghchi said in a post.

However, the White House has dismissed the inclusion of Lebanon in the temporary ceasefire agreement, backing Israel's continued military operation against Hezbollah.

“Lebanon is not part of the ceasefire. That has been relayed to all parties involved in the ceasefire. As you know, Prime Minister Netanyahu put out a statement last night in support of the ceasefire, in support of the United States' efforts, and he's also assured the President they'll continue to be a helpful partner throughout the course of the next two weeks,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters.

US President Donald Trump and Netanyahu have also said that Lebanon is not part of the ceasefire.

Ceasefire announced on Tuesday

On Tuesday (US Time), the United States and Iran reached a ceasefire deal less than two hours before Trump's deadline for Tehran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz or face the wiping out of “a whole civilization”.

The announcement by Trump represented an abrupt turnaround from his earlier extraordinary warning and came after mediation efforts by Pakistan's Prime Minister, Shehbaz Sharif and military chief, Field Marshal Asim Munir.

The US and Iran both claimed victory after reaching the agreement, and world leaders expressed relief, even as more drones and missiles hit Iran and Gulf Arab countries.

Israel intensified its attacks on the Hezbollah militant group in Lebanon, hitting commercial and residential areas in Beirut. At least 182 people were killed on Wednesday in the deadliest day of fighting there.

The fresh violence threatened to scuttle what US Vice President JD Vance called a “fragile” deal.

Attacks on Lebanon unreasonable, says Ghalibaf

The Iranian parliament speaker, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, said planned talks were “unreasonable” because Washington broke three of Tehran’s 10 conditions for an end to the fighting.

In a social media post, Ghalibaf objected to Israeli attacks on Hezbollah, an alleged drone incursion into Iranian airspace after the ceasefire took effect and the US refusal to accept any Iranian enrichment capabilities in a final agreement.