Israel And Hezbollah Renew Ceasefire After Hezbollah Kills Four Israeli Soldiers

Israel and Hezbollah agreed to renew a fragile ceasefire in Lebanon on Friday after 24 hours of intense violence that posed an early challenge to the new agreement between the US and Iran to end their conflict.

“Toggle Play Israel continues attacks on Lebanon despite US-Iran deal Read more Israeli forces have continued to strike southern Lebanon, despite the US-Iran Memorandum of Understanding calling for an end to attacks”

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The flareup followed Hezbollah killing four Israeli soldiers and Israel carrying out a wave of retaliatory airstrikes in southern Lebanon and the Bekaa valley that killed at least 47 people.

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The Guardian reported that the clashes were the most violent since the ceasefire was established, with Hezbollah targeting Israeli forces near the city of Nabatieh in southern Lebanon with rocket fire and drones overnight after intermittent Israeli shelling throughout Thursday.

The BBC said the latest agreement followed concerns that continued clashes would undermine the deal to end the war between the US and Iran, and it reported that the Israeli health ministry said the strikes killed 47 people and wounded 97.

By evening, the Guardian said the clashes appeared to have ended, and it quoted an Israeli official saying, "If Hezbollah does not attack us, then for us it is not a time of war."

As Israel and Hezbollah moved to renew their ceasefire, the BBC reported that Hezbollah is yet to confirm the ceasefire but its secretary general, Sheikh Naim Qassem, said, "The project to eliminate Hezbollah has failed."

The BBC also quoted Israeli far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir responding to the deaths of Israeli soldiers by saying, "Lebanon must burn... For every tear shed by an Israeli mother, 1,000 Lebanese mothers must weep".

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Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told the BBC that Israel wanted "permanent war" and insisted that any breach of the commitments set out in the memorandum of understanding "will be attributed to the US."

The Guardian reported that Netanyahu’s office said Israel would not tolerate attacks on its soldiers or territory and would "exact a very heavy price from Hezbollah for these attacks".

In parallel, the BBC said Israeli military spokesperson Effie Defrin stated Israel would "continue to remove immediate threats, respond to Hezbollah's violations, and do whatever is necessary to protect our civilians."

The renewed fighting in southern Lebanon and the Bekaa valley threatened the planned US-Iran talks in Switzerland, with the Guardian saying a meeting scheduled for Friday was cancelled when Hezbollah killed four Israeli soldiers and Israel carried out retaliatory airstrikes.

The BBC reported that the deadly escalation was another sign that Donald Trump is not necessarily in control of the fate of his deal with Iran, and it said the memorandum of understanding declared a ceasefire in Lebanon as well as between the US and Iran.

The Guardian said the MoU opened a 60-day window to negotiate a permanent understanding over Iran’s nuclear programme while getting oil traffic moving through the strait of Hormuz, and it described Lebanon as a flashpoint that could upend Trump’s efforts to extricate the US from the war.

The BBC added that the US State Department said direct talks between the Lebanese government and Israel would resume in Washington next week, aimed at securing a "lasting peace," and it reported that Lebanese President Joseph Aoun told US Secretary of State Marco Rubio that a "comprehensive ceasefire" under which "Israeli attacks on Lebanese territory" ceased was needed for the Washington talks to progress.

In the same context, the BBC said more than 3,900 people have been killed and more than 11,600 others wounded since the latest conflict began, while around a million people remain displaced and dozens of communities in the south have been completely destroyed.