TYRE – Israeli airstrikes in southern Lebanon killed at least seven people on Saturday, among them two children, just hours after reports surfaced of a possible ceasefire deal. The renewed violence raised fresh doubts over a tentative U.S.-Iran understanding aimed at ending the wider Middle East war.
Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency reported that the attacks struck Nabatiyeh and surrounding villages in the country’s south. The agency said at least seven people were still believed to be trapped beneath the debris.
Diplomatic efforts intensified as mediators raced to stop the fighting between Israel and Lebanon’s Hezbollah militant group, following a major exchange on Friday that left at least 47 people dead in Lebanon and four Israeli soldiers killed.
An Israeli military official said Hezbollah launched more than 50 projectiles overnight toward Israeli forces operating in southern Lebanon, leading the military to strike Hezbollah targets in the area. The official spoke on condition of anonymity in accordance with military rules.
On Friday, Israel’s ambassador to Washington, Yechiel Leiter, wrote on X that Israel “remains firmly committed to an immediate ceasefire” provided Hezbollah upholds the terms and stops its attacks.
Hezbollah has publicly stated that it would respect a ceasefire if Israel also does so, though it has not confirmed that any truce has formally taken effect.
A Hezbollah official, speaking anonymously because he was not authorized to comment publicly, said Friday after reports of a ceasefire proposal emerged that Qatar, the United States and Iran were working to broker a halt to Israel-Hezbollah fighting, but he did not confirm that an agreement had been finalized.
A flare-up that could derail the U.S.-Iran deal
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Hezbollah and Israel went to war just days after the U.S. and Israel launched strikes on Iran on Feb. 28, with Hezbollah firing rockets and drones at civilian communities in northern Israel and Israel seizing large swaths of southern Lebanon.
The interim U.S.-Iran agreement signed this week has already reopened the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran had closed as the war unfolded — cutting off the global economy from significant supplies of oil and natural gas. The deal also envisages the relaunch of talks on Iran’s nuclear program, a core issue in the war.
Neither Israel nor Hezbollah are signatories to the deal, which calls for a halt to military operations in Lebanon and for the country’s sovereignty to be respected. With the fighting continuing, the accord is under threat and U.S.-Iran talks in Switzerland, planned to start Friday, have been delayed, with no new date announced.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to keep Israeli forces in southern Lebanon until any threat to Israel is eliminated. Hezbollah has refused to halt its attacks unless Israel commits to withdrawing from Lebanon, which Iran says is also a condition of the deal.
The fighting in the south, near the Israel-Lebanon border
Plumes of smoke rose into the sky over southern Lebanon Saturday and Israeli jets flew low over the coastal city of Tyre.
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A strike on the village of Barish killed four members of a family, parents and two children. In Arab Salim village, a body was pulled from a destroyed house, and in the villages of Doueir and Kfar Rumman, drone strikes killed a person on a motorcycle and a Lebanese soldier.
Netanyahu’s office did not immediately comment on the ceasefire efforts. On Friday, Netanyahu posted on X that, on his orders, the Israeli army had “struck powerfully” 150 Hezbollah targets, killing dozens of militants.
Military spokesman Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin said the Israeli forces were operating in a “forward defense zone” and would continue doing so.
Iranian and US officials cancel travel to Switzerland
Iranian officials did not travel as planned to Switzerland, insisting that the fighting in Lebanon must stop before the talks can take place. U.S. Vice President JD Vance also postponed his trip.
On Saturday, Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei told the semi-official ISNA news agency that Pakistan’s interior minister will arrive in Iran as part of continued negotiation efforts. Baghaei had said earlier that consultations through mediators were ongoing regarding the next phase of negotiations to draft a final U.S.-Iran agreement.
Because the initial deal was signed digitally earlier this week, the talks in Switzerland were not urgent, and plans were underway to hold a meeting in the coming days, he said.
Much still needs to be resolved
The talks in Switzerland were expected to focus on Iran’s nuclear program. Tehran maintains it’s for peaceful purposes only, though it has a large stockpile of uranium enriched to higher levels that are a step short of weapons’ grade. That uranium could be used to build multiple atomic bombs, should Tehran choose to do so, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency, the U.N. nuclear watchdog.
Those talks are expected to be difficult. The 2015 nuclear deal, which U.S. President Donald Trump scrapped during his first term, took more than 18 months to negotiate.
The interim deal gives negotiators 60 days to come up with a nuclear agreement, but that can be extended. It outlines lucrative incentives if Iran does reach a new agreement, including the eventual lifting of all international sanctions and a $300 billion fund for postwar reconstruction.
Iran has already won some concessions. Following the signing of the interim deal, the U.S. lifted its blockade of Iran’s ports and is allowing it to sell its oil freely. The deal also calls for Iran’s assets to be unfrozen — though it’s not clear how quickly.
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Mroue reported from Beirut. Associated Press writers Abby Sewell in Beirut and Samy Magdy in Cairo contributed to this report.
