A fragile promise of calm shattered in Lebanon as Israeli strikes roared back, with Lebanese authorities reporting 47 dead and Israel announcing that four of its soldiers had been killed.
The renewed bloodshed marks the fiercest fighting since a US-Iran agreement aimed at containing the broader Middle East war — a deal that was also meant to quiet the Israel-Hezbollah front in Lebanon.
Lebanon’s official National News Agency said Israel launched another strike on the Jezzine area in the south, shortly after a US official said Israel and Hezbollah had agreed to a ceasefire.
An NNA reporter also described drones overhead near Tyre, while an AFP correspondent heard unbroken artillery fire pounding the southern town of Nabatieh.
Watch: Smoke rises over southern Lebanon after new strikes despite truce
The US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said US and Qatari mediators secured the truce after talks involving Israel and Iran.
A Gulf diplomat later also said Qatar, the US and Iran had helped broker the ceasefire.
The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not answer an AFP request for confirmation of the truce.
Israeli military spokesman Brigadier General Effie Defrin said: “Everything related to agreements belongs to the political echelon… We will continue to operate according to the directives”.
A previous truce that was supposed to begin in April failed to meaningfully halt attacks from either side.
‘Dangerous escalation’
Lebanon’s health ministry said Israeli airstrikes and shelling killed at least 47 people — among them seven women and two children — and wounded 97 others across Lebanon.
AFPTV footage showed hundreds of cars clogging roads in the city of Sidon as residents tried to escape the south.
Israel’s military said it had carried out “more than 150 IDF (military) strikes in Lebanon since midnight”.
Earlier, it said it had “struck more than 80 command centres, terrorists, launch positions and additional terrorist infrastructure sites in the area of Nabatieh and additional areas in southern Lebanon”.
“Dozens of Hezbollah terrorists operating in the command centres were eliminated.”
A woman sits amid the rubble of her destroyed home in Toul, southern Lebanon
Hezbollah, which is backed by Iran, said it was attacking Israeli forces in the area around Nabatieh.
Israeli strikes also hit the Baalbek region in eastern Lebanon, an area that had been largely spared since the conflict began in March.
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said Israel’s latest assault “constitute a dangerous escalation”.
Earlier, the Israeli military said Lieutenant Colonel Dor Gedalia Ben Simhon had “fallen in combat” along with three other soldiers.
Israeli military correspondents said the four were killed after a tank was struck by “a suspected drone or anti-tank missile”.
The military also said a reserve officer was seriously wounded in a drone attack, while four other soldiers suffered light injuries.
‘Mothers must weep’
The soldiers’ deaths triggered an angry backlash in Israel.
Far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir said “Lebanon must burn… For every tear shed by an Israeli mother, 1,000 Lebanese mothers must weep”.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi responded by accusing Israel of seeking “permanent war”.
US officials, including President Donald Trump, have voiced frustration over Israel’s campaign in Lebanon. But Netanyahu said Friday that Israeli troops would remain in southern Lebanon “as long as necessary”.
An Israeli army humvee patrols along the northern border with Lebanon in Upper Galilee
Hassan Tarhini, 57, who was forced to flee the Nabatieh area, told AFP: “we have no problem being displaced once, twice or even 10 times, so long as we return with our heads held high”.
Hezbollah pulled Lebanon into the regional war in early March by attacking Israel in retaliation for the killing of Iran’s supreme leader in US-Israeli strikes.
Israel answered with an extensive air campaign and a ground incursion.
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