Israeli strikes hit Lebanon despite ceasefire reports

Israeli strikes killed several people in southern Lebanon on Saturday, Lebanese officials reported, less than a day after reports of a new ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah and as continued fighting threatened a fragile U.S.-Iran agreement aimed at ending the wider conflict.

Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency said Israeli warplanes, drones and artillery targeted more than a dozen areas, many around the city of Nabatieh. The BBC reported the agency put the death toll at at least 11. NPR reported at least seven people were killed, including two children, and said at least seven others remained trapped under rubble.

The Israeli military said it struck “Hezbollah terrorist targets” after the group fired more than 50 projectiles at Israeli forces in southern Lebanon. An Israeli military official, speaking anonymously in line with regulations, told NPR the overnight fire prompted the military to target Hezbollah positions.

Smoke rose over parts of southern Lebanon on Saturday, and Israeli jets flew low over the coastal city of Tyre, NPR reported. In the village of Barish, a strike killed four members of one family — two parents and two children. In Arab Salim, a body was pulled from a destroyed house. Drone strikes killed a person on a motorcycle in Doueir and a Lebanese soldier in Kfar Rumman, according to NPR.

The renewed violence followed a heavy exchange on Friday that killed at least 47 people in Lebanon and four Israeli soldiers, NPR reported. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wrote on X on Friday that, on his orders, the Israeli army had “struck powerfully” 150 Hezbollah targets, killing dozens of militants. Military spokesman Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin said Israeli forces were operating in a “forward defense zone” and would continue to do so.

Israel’s ambassador to Washington, Yechiel Leiter, said Friday on X that Israel “remains firmly committed to an immediate ceasefire” if Hezbollah honors the agreement and stops hostilities. Hezbollah has said publicly it will abide by a ceasefire if Israel does, but NPR reported the group has not said a ceasefire was actually in place. A Hezbollah official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Friday that Qatar, the United States and Iran were working to broker an Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire, but did not confirm a deal had been reached.

Senior Hezbollah official Hassan Fadlallah said the group had the right to respond to Israeli attacks. “What concerns us is that the enemy fully and comprehensively respects the ceasefire, and doesn’t attempt to attack our country and villages or seek to occupy any new position,” he said, as quoted by Lebanon’s National News Agency.

The fighting has added pressure to an interim U.S.-Iran agreement signed this week. The deal calls for an end to military operations in Lebanon and respect for the country’s sovereignty, though neither Israel nor Hezbollah is a signatory. NPR reported the agreement has already reopened the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran had closed during the war, cutting off the global economy from significant supplies of oil and natural gas. It also envisages renewed talks on Iran’s nuclear program.

Those talks, planned for Switzerland, have been delayed. NPR reported Iranian officials did not travel as planned, insisting fighting in Lebanon must stop first, and U.S. Vice President JD Vance postponed his trip. The BBC reported U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff was heading to Switzerland for initial talks with Iran.

Washington has criticized Israel’s ongoing operations in Lebanon, warning they could undermine the peace deal with Iran. But President Donald Trump, speaking near Washington as he unveiled a new Air Force One jet, praised Netanyahu and called him a “warrior,” the BBC reported.

Netanyahu has vowed to keep Israeli forces in southern Lebanon until any threat to Israel is eliminated. Hezbollah has refused to halt attacks unless Israel commits to withdrawing from Lebanon, a condition Iran says is also part of the broader deal. Israel is occupying about 5% of southern Lebanon, according to the BBC, and about a million people remain displaced while dozens of southern communities have been destroyed.