Israel continues airstrikes in Lebanon despite US-Iran ceasefire deal

Israeli airstrikes continue targeting towns in southern Lebanon despite a US-Iran agreement scheduled to be formally signed on Friday to end the war on all fronts. According to Lebanon's National News Agency, Israeli drones carried out three attacks in the city of Tyre, injuring several people, and also struck the Bint Jbeil district in Nabatieh province.

The fighting in Lebanon is seen as one of the biggest threats to the framework deal in the US-Israel conflict with Iran. Tehran has warned that new Israeli attacks on Lebanon and continued occupation of its territory will be considered violations of the agreement.

Earlier, Al Jazeera correspondents on the ground reported that Israeli forces carried out an airstrike on the outskirts of Kfar Tebnit, also in the Nabatieh district. They also launched raids on the town of Nabatieh al-Fawqa and shelled the Ali al-Taher hill area and the town's outskirts. Meanwhile, Hezbollah fighters fired at least 10 rockets toward Israeli forces near Kfar Tebnit.

The day before, Israeli attacks killed at least four people in Nabatieh, including drone strikes targeting several vehicles. From Beirut, Al Jazeera correspondent Zeina Khodr said violence has decreased since the US-Iran deal was announced, but attacks have not stopped.

“Security sources believe the Israeli army is trying to seize more land, especially strategic high ground around Nabatieh,” Khodr said. “It is true that families have started returning to their villages, but people are worried. They say they don't trust Israel to abide by a ceasefire.”

UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said cross-border artillery fire between Israeli and Lebanese forces had dropped to 174 rounds on Sunday, down from 705 the previous Sunday. Of those, 169 were attributed to Israel and five to Hezbollah.

The situation in Lebanon is one of the main pillars of the US-Iran deal. Almigdad Alruhaid, an Al Jazeera correspondent in Tehran, said: “As we move closer to signing the agreement, Lebanon is becoming the most sensitive issue among the parties.” Iran says the Israeli army has violated the ceasefire in Lebanon 84 times in the past two days and warns that Israel should expect “a harsh response” if it does not stop the attacks.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has stated that the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Lebanese territory is a core demand for reaching a framework deal with the United States. According to Alruhaid, Iran considers the situation in Lebanon, particularly the south, an inseparable part of the memorandum.

Meanwhile, Amnesty International says the Israeli army's mass forced displacement orders in Lebanon amount to war crimes under international law. The organization declared: “In areas of southern Lebanon, the Israeli army's forced displacement of civilians and prevention of their return home is equivalent to unlawful displacement – a war crime.”

According to Amnesty, the Israeli military has significantly expanded the use of such orders, forcing hundreds of thousands of people to flee across Lebanon. Kristine Beckerle, Deputy Director for the Middle East and North Africa at Amnesty International, called for action: “Instead of forcibly uprooting communities and designating entire swathes of Lebanese land as 'no-go zones' for civilians, Israeli forces must immediately withdraw from Lebanese territory.”

The Israeli army declared about 4.6 percent of Lebanon a “no-go zone” on November 28, 2024, one day after the earlier ceasefire took effect. By 2026, just three days after the April 17 ceasefire announcement, the restricted area had expanded to roughly 6 percent of the country, and civilians were ordered not to return to villages that were home to tens of thousands of people. Lebanese officials say Israel, which launched a large-scale military campaign in Lebanon on March 2, has killed more than 3,800 people, wounded 11,850, and displaced over one million.