US State Department refuses to say Lebanon has right to defend itself

The US State Department has refused to say if Lebanon has the right to defend itself, following Israeli threats of wider attacks on the country amid a crumbling ceasefire. The National’s Willy Lowry was questioning spokesman Vedant Patel on the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hezbollah, which came into effect last week. On Tuesday, Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said his country would attack the Lebanese state “with no exceptions” if the ceasefire fails.