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Firefight near Nabatieh
Israeli machine-gun fire killed two people in southern Lebanon on Tuesday, with the official National News Agency saying the attack happened in the Deir neighborhood of Nabatieh as civilians were working to open roads and recover bodies beneath rubble.
“The Islamic Resistance issued on Thursday a statement that highlighted the new Israeli violation of the ceasefire in South Lebanon represented by the deliberate targeting of Lebanese civilians who were on their way to inspect their homes on the Zawtar Al-Sharqiyah–Maifadoun road, claiming that they posed a threat to its occupying forces”
Hezbollah denounced the strike as a ceasefire breach, saying that "at 11:30 the Israeli army opened fire with machine guns from among the houses" toward a group of civilians in Deir.
The National News Agency also reported that residents in the town of Hadathah were fired upon while accompanied by the Lebanese army to bury people in the town's cemetery, with no injuries reported.
The same reporting tied the incident to a wider diplomatic track, saying the fifth round of talks between Beirut and Tel Aviv in Washington began as the United States and Iran wrapped up the first round of negotiations in Switzerland.
Hezbollah warned that "what the enemy did constitutes a blatant violation of the ceasefire" to which the resistance has adhered so far.
Hezbollah and UNIFIL
The Lebanese Health Ministry, via AFP, said two people were killed and another was wounded in "gunfire by the Israeli enemy" on the town of Nabatieh al-Fouqa after Israeli strikes subsided since Saturday evening.
Hezbollah again framed the killings as a ceasefire violation, warning that "what the enemy did constitutes a blatant violation of the ceasefire to which the resistance has adhered so far."
The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon said it had not observed "any paths for projectiles, or interceptions, or air raids since Sunday," while also noting it had observed "violations of the airspace, military activity, and restrictions on movement."
In Washington, Lebanese and Israeli authorities resumed direct negotiations on Tuesday, with L'Humanité saying the fifth session was due to end on Thursday, June 25.
L'Humanité also quoted Marwan Hamadeh on Sawt Koul Loubnan radio, judging that the discussions remain essential despite statements that the dossier would now be managed by Tehran, Islamabad, and Doha.
Negotiations and what’s at risk
Diplomatic talks continued alongside the ceasefire dispute, with the Lebanese president Joseph Aoun receiving a call from his French counterpart to discuss "the situation in the south after the announcement of the ceasefire and the steps to follow."
“War in Lebanon: Hezbollah denounces a 'flagrant violation' of the ceasefire after Israeli fire in southern Lebanon”
In Washington, the fifth round of direct talks between Israel and Lebanon was described as beginning at the U.S. State Department, while the Lebanese and Israeli authorities resumed negotiations on Tuesday, according to L'Humanité.
Hezbollah’s denunciations and the Israeli military’s account of targeting a "cell of armed terrorists" fed into the dispute over whether the ceasefire would hold, as Franceinfo said the Israeli army confirmed it fired to target such a cell for the first time since Saturday evening.
The stakes were also framed in terms of Lebanon’s postwar control and international monitoring, with L'Humanité saying Donald Trump wants to prevent the Lebanese matter from derailing the success of the protocol agreement with Iran and that the two countries could negotiate pilot zones transferred under Lebanon's exclusive military control.
Meanwhile, Ouest-France reported that Israeli forces said they had targeted "an armed terrorist cell," and Hezbollah denounced a "flagrant violation of the ceasefire" as the immediate political consequence of the renewed fire.
