Israel and Lebanon reached a conditional ceasefire agreement on Wednesday following US-brokered talks in Washington, though cross-border attacks continued even as negotiators signed off on the deal.
A joint statement from both sides made clear the truce depends on a “complete cessation” of fire by Iran-backed Hezbollah and the group’s withdrawal from southern Lebanon. The two countries, which maintain no formal diplomatic relations, also agreed to establish “pilot zones” where Lebanese armed forces “will take exclusive control of the territory to the exclusion of all non-state actors”.
These Washington meetings marked the fourth round of direct talks between Lebanese and Israeli diplomats since fighting broke out on 2 March, when Hezbollah renewed its attacks against Israel in support of Iran. Both delegations agreed to return to the table the week of 22 June “with a view toward reaching a comprehensive agreement”.
Violations undercut deal before ink dries
Just hours after the announcement, air raid alarms sounded across northern Israel following the identification of a “suspicious aerial target”, though Israeli forces reported no casualties. Earlier, the Israeli military said it intercepted a “hostile aircraft” and two projectiles that crossed into Israeli territory from Lebanon. Hezbollah, in turn, declared it fired a rocket barrage at soldiers in northern Israel “in response to the Israeli enemy army’s violation of the ceasefire”. Early Thursday, the group said it launched drones at an Israeli command position near Chqif Castle and a rocket salvo at Israeli forces in Al-Qantara.
This pattern of mutual violations is not new, as a previous truce set for 17 April never held, with each side blaming the other for the breakdown. Senior Hezbollah official Mahmud Qomati told AFP on Tuesday the group would “not accept a partial ceasefire,” a statement that underscores the difficulty of enforcing any agreement.
Civilian toll mounts as Iran warns against escalation
Israeli strikes on Wednesday killed at least ten people in southern Lebanon, according to Lebanese authorities. Among the dead were four Syrians and two Palestinians struck near the city of Tyre, though an Israeli military spokesperson told AFP, “We are not aware of any such attack having occurred in the area.”
Separately, Israeli strikes hit an ambulance in the south, killing two paramedics from the Risala Scouts Association. A third paramedic died in a subsequent attack on a team linked to Hezbollah’s Islamic Health Committee. In total, at least 130 emergency and health workers have died since the fighting began. Lebanon’s army also confirmed the death of one soldier in an Israeli strike, and condemned what it called Israel’s “deliberate targeting of army personnel, vehicles and positions”.
On the diplomatic front, US President Donald Trump expressed a desire to keep the Lebanon conflict separate from the broader war with Iran. Tehran, however, insists the two are inseparable. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi warned that any attack on Beirut would trigger a “full-scale resumption” of war, a statement that reflects the fragile and interconnected nature of any ceasefire effort in the region.
