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Ceasefire, then strikes
Israel continued to attack Lebanon after a new ceasefire with Hezbollah was reported, with fears in the region that Tel Aviv was trying to wreck a fragile agreement tied to wider efforts to end Middle East hostilities.
On Friday, officials and diplomats from the United States and the Gulf separately told news agencies that the ceasefire would start at 4pm local time (13:00 GMT), but after the deadline at least 12 Israeli air raids and continual artillery shelling hit southern Lebanon, according to reports from the ground.
Lebanon’s National News Agency reported an Israeli drone strike killed two people travelling on a motorcycle in southern Lebanon after the ceasefire had taken hold.
The Lebanese health ministry said the Israeli military killed at least 47 people and wounded 97 in attacks on Lebanon that began at midnight and continued through Friday, and a senior US official told Reuters that “We understand that after the exchange of fire earlier today, Israel and Hezbollah are now in a ceasefire,”.
Hezbollah’s ceasefire condition was echoed by a Hezbollah official telling Al Jazeera that the ceasefire would hold if Israel abided by it, while Israel’s ambassador to the US, Yechiel Leiter, wrote on X: “Israel remains firmly committed to an immediate ceasefire.”
Competing claims and diplomacy
Hezbollah accused Israel of violating the ceasefire as Israeli air and ground operations continued to strike southern and eastern Lebanon, and Hezbollah said Israel bore “full responsibility” for what it described as repeated violations.
Hezbollah lawmaker Hassan Fadlallah said Israel must fully respect the ceasefire or face consequences, adding, “The resistance has the full right to confront this enemy when it attacks us, as it is the aggressor and the occupier,”.
The Lebanese Ministry of Public Health said that since March 2, when the latest Israel-Hezbollah war began, 4,057 people had been killed, including 135 health and emergency workers, and 12,121 others had been wounded.
The BBC reported that local officials said 16 people were killed in the Nabatieh district and seven in neighbouring Saida after Israeli warplanes, drones, and artillery targeted several areas, and it described a family of four killed in Barich in southern Lebanon.
In Washington, the US state department said the next round of Lebanese-Israeli talks are due in Washington from June 23 to 25, after US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Lebanese President Joseph Aoun spoke by phone, with Aoun saying a “comprehensive ceasefire” must serve as a “fundamental basis” for any direct negotiations with Israel.
Regional stakes widen
Iran said Saturday that the Strait of Hormuz is closed over ceasefire violations after Israel continued deadly strikes in southern Lebanon overnight, and Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy warned ships not to approach the waterway.
Iran’s top joint military command said the closure was the “first step” in response to breaches of commitments by the U.S. and Israel, according to Iran’s semiofficial Mehr news agency, while U.S. Central Command said, “Iran does not control the Strait of Hormuz,” and that “Traffic continues to flow.”
The BBC said the U.S.-Iran understanding announced this week calls for an immediate and permanent halt to military operations by the parties and their allies across several fronts, including Lebanon, and it reported that Washington fears the continuing tensions could undermine the US peace deal with Iran.
NBC News reported that early Saturday Israeli strikes killed at least 16 people, including two children, according to Lebanese civil defense and media, and it said a previous wave of strikes on Friday killed 83 people, Lebanon’s Ministry of Health said.
With the ceasefire disputed on the ground and the wider negotiations in motion, the U.S. said 55 merchant ships transited the strait on Saturday, while Iran’s Foreign Affairs Ministry announced “technical-level talks” will take place Sunday with U.S. and Iranian representatives joined by mediators from Qatar and Pakistan.
