Israel keeps up attacks on Lebanon despited US-brokered ceasefire, and their army has even issued new forced displacement orders

Israel has continued to launch deadly attacks on southern Lebanon despite both countries striking a new United States-brokered ceasefire agreement, Al Jazeera reported. Even with this freshly minted deal on the table, the violence hasn’t stopped. In fact, on Friday, at least 12 people were killed as Israeli warplanes and drones struck several towns, according to reports from Lebanese state media. The Israeli military also issued new forced displacement orders covering nine towns and villages.

These strikes aren’t just hitting military targets, they’re hitting residential areas, roads, and buildings. There was a major demolition carried out in Bab al-Thaniya, and Israeli warplanes even struck close to Jabel Amel Hospital, specifically targeting the Bank Audi area. It’s hard to imagine how any civilian population can find a sense of normalcy when their essential services and homes are being targeted in this manner.

In Habboush, two people were killed, including a doctor, which is a major blow to the community’s medical capacity. Another young man was killed in Doueir, and a strike in the village of Qalawiya Tower left one person dead and another wounded. In Kfar Reman, a drone killed a man sitting in his car.

The human toll is devastating

Elsewhere in the southern Nabatieh area, five people, including a paramedic, were killed in Zebdin. Lebanese news outlets also confirmed that two Syrian teenagers were killed in a drone strike on a motorcycle in the village of Aaba, and their father was left injured. The list of affected towns keeps growing, with late reports on Friday indicating Israeli raids on the town of Mifdoun, an air raid on Deir al-Zahrani, and fire reported on the town of Blat.

This ceasefire was announced by the Trump administration on Thursday, but it’s already feeling like a fragile piece of paper. You might remember that a previous agreement to cease hostilities was announced on April 16, yet in the time between these two deals, more than 600 people were killed in Israeli strikes across Lebanon. The Israeli military has also been busy expanding its presence in the south, and it now occupies about one-fifth of Lebanese territory.

According to the latest figures from Lebanon’s Ministry of Public Health, at least 3,558 people have been killed and 10,870 others wounded in Israeli attacks across Lebanon since March 2. The United Nations’s humanitarian office, OCHA, stated late on Friday that at least 1.4 million people across Lebanon have been directly affected by these attacks and now need urgent assistance. While partners reached more than 680,000 people with aid between March 2 and May 31, the agency now says it needs an additional $331.5m to reach the 1.4 million vulnerable people in need through August.

The skepticism regarding this new deal is high, and for good reason. Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem was quick to reject the deal, calling it a “surrender and defeat,” much like he did with the April agreement. The group didn’t hold back, launching at least eight attacks against Israeli military positions on Friday alone. These included strikes on the outskirts of Zawtar al-Sharqiya and in Yohmor al-Shaqif.

They even claimed to have struck Israeli Hermes 450 drones with surface-to-air missiles over the western Bekaa and Zahrani regions. The Israeli military announced that three of its officers had been injured in southern Lebanon, with one combat officer seriously injured on Thursday by a suspected aerial target strike and another officer seriously injured on Friday morning during an encounter with fighters.

It’s becoming increasingly clear that the political situation is just as fractured as the military one. Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam urged Iran to stop treating his country as a “bargaining chip,” telling a news conference that they need to have mercy on the south. President Joseph Aoun echoed this sentiment, telling Iran, “It’s not their country and that diplomacy is the only path forward.”

Meanwhile, Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri has suggested that Hezbollah would withdraw from the area south of the Litani River if Israel pulls out and a comprehensive, unconditional ceasefire is reached, but he dismissed the current proposal as a “hybrid” deal that is “unworthy of discussion.”

With reports from Ynet saying that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has yet to approve the implementation of the ceasefire, the path ahead looks incredibly murky. Experts like Andrea Dessi suggest that “any deal excluding key actors like Hezbollah is destined to fail,” while others, like Israeli diplomat Alon Pinkas, argue that “Israel lacks a coherent strategy for the region.”