Lebanon And Israel Hold New Washington Talks As Israel Strikes Hezbollah Targets In South Lebanon

Lebanon and Israel are set to hold new peace talks in Washington starting Thursday, as their latest ceasefire is described as still in place despite hundreds of deaths in Israeli strikes and as it nears its end.

“The ceasefire in Lebanon that started on April 16 is increasingly coming under strain, with both Israel and Hezbollah ramping up attacks against each other”

Al Jazeera

Israel’s military said it was striking Hezbollah targets in south Lebanon on Thursday after warning residents of several towns and villages there and in the country’s east to evacuate, and it also said a Hezbollah drone fell in Israeli territory, wounding several civilians.

Al Jazeera

Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency reported Israeli airstrikes on the south and east, including in areas not covered by the warning, a day after the health ministry said intense raids killed 22 people, eight of them children.

The ceasefire began on April 17 and lasts through Sunday, and Al-Monitor reported that Lebanese and Israeli representatives last met on April 23 at the White House where US President Donald Trump announced a three-week ceasefire extension.

Al-Monitor also quoted Hezbollah lawmaker Ali Ammar saying the direct talks amounted to "free concessions" to Israel, while NBC News described the truce as "only a ceasefire in name" as Israeli forces leveled whole areas in southern Lebanon.

As the ceasefire’s end date approached, Hezbollah said it carried out 17 attacks and confrontations on Israeli targets in southern Lebanon, describing the operations as a response to continued Israeli ceasefire violations.

Anadolu Ajansı reported that Hezbollah said it launched a rocket barrage at Israeli forces moving from Bayyada toward Naqoura, and it also claimed a confirmed hit when its fighters targeted a Merkava tank with a guided missile in Tal Nahas on the outskirts of Kfar Kila.

Al-Monitor

In Washington-bound diplomacy, the Lebanese Health Ministry told Al Jazeera that Israeli attacks across the country had killed 51 people, including two medical workers, and it said Israel directly targeted two points of the Health Authority in Qalawiya and Tibnin, Bint Jbeil district.

Al Jazeera quoted Ali Safiuddin, the head of the Lebanese Civil Defence in Tyre, saying, "We’re under threat every second, every day," and it also quoted Dr Tahir Mohammed warning that targeting healthcare workers was "consistent."

NBC News added that Abbas Awada, the mayor of Khiam, said the destruction in parts of southern Lebanon became "systematic" after the truce came into effect April 16, as Israeli forces pressed on with plans to establish control in the area.

With the third round of talks in Washington approaching on Thursday and Friday, the sources describe a conflict where the lines of war and the lines of the truce remain blurred, and where military operations have escalated alongside diplomacy.

“Hezbollah says it carried out 17 attacks on Israeli targets in south Lebanon Group says operations targeted Merkava tank, troop movements, and military positions amid Israel's continued ceasefire violations Tarek Chouiref 14 May 2026•Update: 14 May 2026 Archive ISTANBUL Hezbollah said early Thursday that it carried out 17 attacks and confrontations on Israeli targets in southern Lebanon, describing the operations as a response to continued Israeli ceasefire violations”

Anadolu Ajansı

The BBC reported that an Israeli air strike at lunchtime and without warning destroyed a building where a family displaced by the war were sheltering in Saksakiyeh in southern Lebanon, and it said nine people were killed there.

The BBC also recorded the Israeli military’s position that it had targeted Hezbollah members operating from a building used for military purposes and that they posed an "immediate threat," while noting it was "reviewing reports regarding harm to uninvolved civilians."

In the background of the negotiations, Al-Monitor said the United States believes "comprehensive peace is contingent on the full restoration of Lebanese state authority and the complete disarmament of Hezbollah," and it described Lebanon’s aim as seeking "the consolidation of the ceasefire" during the talks.

NBC News, meanwhile, said Netanyahu told CBS News’ “60 Minutes” that Israel’s operations in Lebanon are necessary to eliminate the threat Hezbollah poses, and it quoted him saying, "We want to get rid of that danger to our communities, to our cities."