Lebanon and Israel provisionally agreed in Washington to a new ceasefire Wednesday, even as Israel continued attacks, and days later Israeli airstrikes on southern Lebanon killed nine people including three members of the Lebanese military.
An airstrike on a vehicle on a road linking the city of Nabatiyeh with the town of Marjayoun killed a brigadier general, a captain and another soldier, the army said. Another airstrike on the southern village of Saksakiyah killed six people and wounded four, the state-run National News Agency said.
The Lebanese army said the strikes were part of "continued, deliberate, and repeated Israeli aggression" that aim to thwart efforts "to reach a solution that would restore stability, establish a comprehensive ceasefire and lead to the Israeli withdrawal from the occupied Lebanese territories."
The Israeli military confirmed hitting a vehicle and said the incident is being reviewed, saying the vehicle was "moving suspiciously" toward Israeli soldiers near the village of Kfar Tibnit after the military received "concrete indications" that Hezbollah would direct fire toward Israeli soldiers from the same area and that it operates against Hezbollah and not against the Lebanese army.
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun called the strike "a flagrant violation to Lebanese sovereignty and international law," and said it came in the context of "ongoing escalation that threatens stability and security in the south, despite the efforts Lebanon is exerting in the Washington negotiations to put an end to the ongoing Israeli attacks without deterrent."
UNIFIL, the U.N. peacekeeping operation for Lebanon, announced Thursday that one of its peacekeepers had been killed and others wounded when mortars hit their position near Marjayoun in southeastern Lebanon.
A U.N. source said the mortars appeared to have come from Hezbollah.
A Hezbollah official said it had officially informed Lebanese President Joseph Aoun that it would not accept any ceasefire that did not begin with the withdrawal of Israeli forces from south Lebanon; Hezbollah has refused the truce.
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said Israel was demanding the creation of what it called a de-militarized zone within Lebanon while being able to continue attacks against Iran-backed Hezbollah, and he said Israel would not be withdrawing from the south.
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said Thursday that the ceasefire would come into force within 24 hours of all concerned parties approving it, especially Hezbollah.
The U.S. does not speak directly to Hezbollah, which it classifies as a terrorist organization, and Lebanon's negotiations in Washington were carried out without direct inclusion of the Iran-backed group.
Before the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran on Feb. 28, Israel held five positions across the border in Lebanon; it now occupies large parts of the south of the country.
The war began on March 2, when Hezbollah fired rockets at northern Israel two days after Israel and the U.S. began their attacks on Iran, the reports said. Israeli troops have seized around a fifth of Lebanon, pushing further into the country's south than at any time since the end of Israel's 1982-2000 occupation.
More than 3,500 people have been killed in Lebanon since the war began, the reports said, and fighting has displaced more than 1 million people. The fighting has killed at least 29 Israeli soldiers and three civilians.
Fighting appeared to jettison immediate prospects of a wider ceasefire between the United States and Iran, and Iran has said it will not agree to a ceasefire with the U.S. and Israel unless there is one in Lebanon.
On Friday, Aoun and Lebanon's prime minister criticized Iran for opposing the latest ceasefire deal between the Lebanese government and Israel, saying their country should not be used by Tehran as a "bargaining chip" in its talks with Washington. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi responded on X by saying, "one would think it's Iran that has occupied a fifth of Lebanon, displaced a quarter of Lebanese and is bombing his country on daily basis," and "Had Lebanon been a bargaining chip for Iran, we'd have a deal long ago. Save Lebanon from your real foe, Mr. President."