Israeli strikes kill 5 in Lebanon hours after ceasefire

Israel and Hezbollah Agree to Ceasefire After Deadly Day of Strikes Kills 47 in Lebanon

Israel and Hezbollah agreed to a ceasefire on Friday, June 19, brokered by US and Qatari negotiators with assistance from Iran, set to take effect at 4 p.m. local time in Lebanon. The truce came after Israeli airstrikes and bombardments killed at least 47 people and wounded 97 others across 11 towns in Lebanon since midnight, according to the Lebanese health ministry.reuters

Violence Tests US-Iran Deal

The escalation represented one of the deadliest days of Israeli strikes amid the broader conflict and threatened to derail the US-Iran memorandum of understanding signed earlier in the week. The 14-point agreement, finalized on June 17, extends a ceasefire originally declared in April by 60 days and mandates an immediate cessation of military operations on all fronts, including in Lebanon.cnn

Planned follow-up talks in Switzerland between Washington and Tehran were postponed as a result of the violence. US envoy Steve Witkoff was later reported to be heading to Switzerland to facilitate a resumption of technical discussions, with Jared Kushner also expected to participate.cnbc

In a phone conversation with NBC News on Friday, President Trump said he had asked Israel to agree to the ceasefire. “It’s a positive,” he remarked, calling it “a little icing on the cake”. He also urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to “calm down and think rationally,” according to reports.nbcnews

Ceasefire Holds Amid Concerns

Despite the agreement, reports of Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon continued after the 4 p.m. deadline. Al Jazeera reported at least 12 airstrikes and ongoing artillery bombardments after the ceasefire was supposed to take effect, including a drone strike that killed two people on a motorcycle. By Saturday, Reuters reported at least five more people killed in strikes on southern Lebanon’s Nabatieh region.aljazeera

Israel’s ambassador to the United States, Yechiel Leiter, affirmed that Israel was “firmly committed to an immediate ceasefire” and had ceased offensive actions. The Israeli military acknowledged four of its soldiers had been killed in southern Lebanon, prompting what it described as retaliatory strikes on more than 80 Hezbollah-linked targets.thenationalnews

Talks Move to Washington

The US State Department announced that Lebanon-Israel negotiations would resume in Washington from June 23 to 25, following a call between Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Lebanese President Joseph Aoun. Rubio emphasized that Lebanon’s negotiations with Israel represent the sole viable route to reconstruction and the cessation of recurring violence.france24

Since hostilities began in March, Lebanon’s health ministry has recorded more than 3,900 people killed, with approximately one million remaining displaced. This marked the sixth ceasefire agreed between the parties since the first cessation of hostilities on April 16.bbc