Netanyahu says Israel’s strike on Iran hits 'specific component' of nuclear programme

Benjamin Netanyahu told the Israeli parliament that there is a specific component in their nuclear program that was hit in this attack. However, he made it clear that the strike did not block Iran’s path to developing nuclear weapons.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday stated that Israel’s strike on Iran in October had hit a “specific component" of the country’s nuclear programme. While speaking in the Knesset, Netanyahu added that the attack had degraded Iran’s defence and missile production capabilities, according to The Times of Israel.

Netanyahu told the Israeli parliament that there is a specific component in their nuclear program that was hit in this attack. However, he made it clear that the strike did not block Iran’s path to developing nuclear weapons.

In the meantime, an Israeli airstrike slammed into a densely populated residential area in Lebanon's capital near key government and diplomatic buildings late on Monday, killing at least five people as the US pressed ahead with cease-fire efforts.

Lebanon's state-run National News Agency said two missiles hit the area of Zoqaq al-Blat neighbourhood -- where local UN headquarters and Lebanon's parliament and prime minister's office are located.

Since late September, Israel has dramatically escalated its bombardment of Lebanon, vowing to severely weaken the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militant group and end its barrages in Israel that the militants have said are in solidarity with Palestinians during the war in Gaza.

The US has been working on a ceasefire proposal that would remove Israeli ground forces from Lebanon and push Hezbollah forces far from the Israeli border.
Lebanon's Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, a Hezbollah ally who is mediating for the militants, is expected to meet with US envoy Amos Hochstein in the Lebanese capital on Tuesday.

The White House has not confirmed Hochstein's visit. Labour Minister Mostafa Bayram, who met with Berri on Monday, said Lebanon would convey its "positive position" to the latest US proposal.

The Israeli military had no immediate comment on the strike, which also wounded 24 people, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry.

Many areas in central Beirut, including Zoqaq al-Blat, have become a refuge for many of the roughly one million people displaced by the ongoing conflict in southern Lebanon and the southern suburbs of Beirut.

(With inputs from PTI)