Beirut, Lebanon. Israel carried out airstrikes in southern Lebanon on Monday, Lebanese security sources and the state news agency said, while Hezbollah announced new attacks on Israeli forces despite a 45-day U.S.-backed ceasefire extension.
Ceasefire extension begins
Hostilities between Iran-backed Hezbollah and Israel have continued since U.S. President Donald Trump announced a ceasefire on April 16, following renewed tensions linked to the U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran. Fighting has been mostly contained to southern Lebanon.
A 45-day ceasefire extension, announced after a third round of U.S.-hosted talks between Lebanon and Israel on Friday, began at midnight, a Lebanese official said.
Diplomacy alongside mediation
U.S.-led mediation has proceeded alongside diplomacy aimed at ending the U.S.-Iran conflict. Iran has said ending Israel’s war in Lebanon is among its demands for a deal over the wider conflict.
Hezbollah objects to Beirut’s talks with Israel.
Strike near Baalbeck reported
An Israeli strike near the eastern Lebanese city of Baalbeck killed a commander of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad militant group, a Hezbollah ally, along with his daughter, Lebanese security sources said.
The Israeli military said it killed the commander, Wael Mahmoud Abd al-Halim, and said it took steps to “mitigate the risk of harm to civilians,” without mentioning his daughter.
Hezbollah and Israeli military statements
Hezbollah said it launched an explosive drone at an Iron Dome air defence position in the Galilee area of northern Israel and carried out other attacks on Israeli forces in Lebanon.
Israel’s military said some “launches” aimed at Israeli soldiers in southern Lebanon, as well as an explosive drone, crossed into Israeli territory.
Reports of multiple airstrikes
Lebanon’s National News Agency reported Israeli airstrikes on more than half a dozen locations in southern Lebanon.
The Israeli military said it could not comment on the reported airstrikes without coordinates for each location, and it did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the attack claimed by Hezbollah on the Iron Dome position.
What do you think the ceasefire extension could change on the ground in southern Lebanon?
