• Israeli forces have killed 16 people in Lebanon despite a reported ceasefire agreement with Hezbollah.

Netanyahu claims Israel’s military takes more measures to spare civilians than any other

Netanyahu is utterly saying that “no military takes more measures to minimize” civilian casualties than the Israeli military, and that and no nation is “attacked by more propaganda than Israel”.

He added, “Truth and Israel will prevail.”

The post comes amid growing criticism of Israel’s military operations in Lebanon, including from US President Trump, over their high civilian toll.

Lebanon’s Health Ministry says that Israeli attacks since March 2 have killed at least 4,057 people and wounded 12,121 others. Many of the victims were women and children.

Israel is also accused of committing genocide in its war on Gaza, where Israeli troops have killed at least 73,018 Palestinians and wounded some 173,273 others.

Since its war on Gaza in October 2023, the Israeli armed war belligerent has been employing an directive, which in their Lebanon invasion is to translate into "treat everyone and everything that moves and not move in Lebanon as Hezbollah."

The directive, which is outright conflation therefore a war crime, was banned for years until October 2023.

US ‘focused on preventing Israeli actions that could trigger Hezbollah response’

Richard Schmierer, a former US ambassador to Oman, has expressed optimism about the talks in Switzerland, saying Washington was trying to halt Israel’s attacks on Lebanon.

“Washington, the US military, the president are all focused on how to ensure that Israel doesn’t take any actions in Lebanon that will trigger military response from Hezbollah,” he said.

Schmierer said he believed the US has already discussed the issue with Israel.

“I think Israel understands the need to allow this ceasefire to take hold, and so I think that it will happen” by tomorrow in Switzerland, he said. “We will have a ceasefire in place, and that element will be behind us.”

“But of course, it’s something we’ll have to keep our eye on,” he added.

He said the lack of a US reaction to Iran’s announcement over the closure of the Strait of Hormuz was a positive sign, because it could mean “there are discussions behind the scenes”.

Schmierer added that while the US military has sought to reassure shipping companies that it can provide security, they will be “concerned about the Iranian threats and probably are reducing or delaying their shipments to the strait”.

The former envoy said he expected to see progress on the issue soon.

“I do hope tomorrow when the sun comes up in Switzerland that we’ll begin to see some evidence that Iran is standing down from that statement, as I believe that we’ll be seeing a more successful ceasefire in Lebanon,” Schmierer said.

“Then neither side needs to issue threats or condemn the other side. We will simply be able to move on,” he added.

‘Nine martyrs and not a single one of them has been found yet’

Residents of southern Lebanon are still searching for their loved ones after Israel’s deadly strikes on Saturday.

In Qannarit village, near the port city of Sidon, where Israeli strikes killed at least seven people, Qassam Ghaddar said he had lost nine members of his family.

“This is my in-laws’ house,” he said, standing beside a building reduced to rubble. “My brother-in-law, my wife’s two brothers, my mother-in-law, and my son have not been found. There are also two babies, one was just one month old, and the other is two months old. Nine martyrs, and not a single one of them has been found yet. Nine martyrs.”

The strikes have killed more than 4,000 people since they began in March, according to Lebanese authorities.

In the village of Barish, near the city of Tyre, a family of four was killed when Israeli strikes hit a three-story residential building.

“People were sleeping inside. Children, a woman and her husband,” said Abbas Ezzedine, a witness. “It was supposed to be a ceasefire yesterday with the Israeli enemy,” he said.

"... nine members of his family."

The Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide:

Article II

In the present Convention, genocide means any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such:

1. Killing members of the group.
2. Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group.
3. Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part.
    

This is the case in Gaza for at least two years. This is going to be the case in Lebanon if the Israelis continue to violate the ceasefire with the Lebanese government, the recently reported ceasefire with Hezbollah, and ignoring the fact that Lebanon is included in the MoU.

Israeli forces step up attacks on Lebanon after ceasefire with Hezbollah

Last Friday at 4pm local time, US officials had announced a ceasefire was going to come into effect between Israel and Hezbollah.

Immediately after that ceasefire was supposed to take effect, there were more than a dozen Israeli air strikes, which continued for several hours.

They did slow into Friday night, but just after midnight, Israeli troops launched another assault on the Ali al-Taher Hill. That is a ridge line on a mountain near the city of Nabatieh, and the Israeli military has been seeking to take that ridge and other parts of high ground around Nabatieh for some time now. This was at least their sixth or seventh assault on that hill.

Hezbollah said the Israelis had broken the ceasefire and responded by launching rockets and an ambush, killing four Israeli soldiers and wounding several others.

The Israeli military then responded, accusing Hezbollah of breaking the ceasefire and saying they launched air strikes on more than 100 Hezbollah targets across Lebanon on Saturday.

Several residential buildings were among the sites that were hit. And so civilians in southern Lebanon have been killed once again, including a family in the village of Barish – a man, his wife and their two children. Women and children were also among the dead in an air strike on a building in the district of Sidon earlier on Saturday.

We’ve also had Lebanese army soldiers killed in these targeted strikes, one of whom was on his motorbike traveling between Nabatieh and Kfar Reman.

"..including a family..."

See previous comment.

Israel orders halt to strikes on Lebanon, except at strategic hill near Nabatieh

Israeli media is reporting that the Israeli prime minister and his minister of defense have instructed the army to stay put in occupied Lebanese territory, but to hold fire, excluding the battles that continue to rage in that hill [Ali al-Taher] near Nabatieh, where Israeli soldiers were killed and injured over the past 48 hours.

The battles in that strategic location are reportedly scheduled to continue on track, but Israel considers this an implementation of the ceasefire and says that unless Hezbollah fires at its occupying forces, it will not be attacking Lebanon.

Now, the situation in Lebanon has threatened to derail upcoming talks in Switzerland, and we are seeing a divergence of positions between the US that wants to see this ceasefire with Iran hold, to see negotiations succeed and move on to a final deal, and Israel that views that memorandum of understanding as a political disaster, and doesn’t want to leave the occupied territory in Lebanon.

In the middle of all of that are upcoming elections in Israel. The Israeli prime minister has to balance between trying to stay alive politically and keeping that strategic alliance that Israel cannot gamble away with the US. That is what will judge and what will control the measures that Israel takes in the coming hours and days.

Article 1 of the MoU is clear: the war must stop on all fronts, including in Lebanon.

Environmentalists mourn Mona Khalil, sea turtle conservationist killed in Israeli strike

Tributes are pouring in for Mona Khalil, the marine ecologist who was killed from injuries sustained during an Israeli strike on her home in the southern village of al-Mansouri.

Khalil, who died on Friday after weeks in hospital, led efforts to safeguard one of Lebanon’s most important nesting sites for endangered sea turtles.

The Society for the Protection of Nature in Lebanon mourned Khalil, describing her in a statement as “one of Lebanon’s most dedicated environmental defenders and a tireless champion of sea turtle conservation”.

The group Green Southerners said on X that Khalil’s turtle conservation programme at her iconic Orange House “inspired generations of Lebanese to value and protect their natural heritage and coastal ecosystems”.

It said the Israeli strike on the Orange House “targeted a site that had long been known for environmental conservation”, adding that Khalil’s death stands as a stark reminder of the civilian toll in southern Lebanon.

Julien Jreissati of Greenpeace Middle East and North Africa also told the AFP new agency that Khalil’s loss was felt “for the environmental movement in Lebanon and the region”, not just her family.

‘Right now, Israel could be a spoiler in this kind of a negotiation’

Ross Harrison, a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute, says implementation of the MoU that Washington and Tehran have already signed will dominate the negotiations in Switzerland rather than technical talks on the details yet to be worked out.

“They’re going to be focused on actually enforcing compliance with the memorandum of understanding. The technical talks are concerning the nuclear file and other issues that separate the United States from Iran. But the problem is that they want to make sure before they move to phase two, which are the technical talks, that phase one is successful,” he says.

“And the Iranians have a very clear position there, and that is that, given that during negotiations in the past both Israel and the United States have bombed Iran, … they want to make sure that in fact the United States can impose its will on Israel in terms of restraining their actions in Lebanon vis-a-vis Hezbollah.”

Harrison said Iran considers the US obligated by the MoU to rein in Israel, which is not a signatory to the memo and could still act to spoil it.

“Right now, Israel could be a spoiler in this kind of a negotiation. They’re not a signatory, so in theory they’re not bound by the agreement. So, it’s not a breach between Iran and Israel. It’s a breach actually between Iran and the United States if the United States cannot impose its will and actually get Israel to abide by the ceasefire,” he said.

Netanyahu has already been the spoiler by not ceasing his war in Lebanon, as demanded in Article 1 of the MoU.

At least seven killed in Israeli attacks on Lebanon’s western Bekaa Valley, Tyre district

Five people were killed, among them a child, a woman, and two elderly people, following an Israeli raid on the village of Sohmor in Lebanon’s western Bekaa Valley, according to the National News Agency (NNA) citing the country’s Health Ministry.

Sunday’s report did not specify when the attack took place.

An additional two people of Palestinian nationality were killed in Rashidieh, in southern Lebanon’s Tyre district, NNA reported.

Israeli forces advance near Syria’s Deraa, search homes

Syria’s state-run SANA news agency says Israeli forces have advanced into the Yarmouk basin area west of Deraa and searched a number of private homes.

Israel seized territory in Syria’s nearby Golan Heights in 2024 after a lightning advance by Syrian opposition forces that toppled the government of Bashar al-Assad in December that year.
 

A recent investigation by Al Jazeera found that Israeli forces have established a de facto military footprint across southern Syria that is absent from official Israeli maps.

‘No major confrontations’ reported in Lebanon

There have been no major confrontations reported – unlike the previous two days, when we have seen, basically at first light, these large escalations, widespread air attacks by Israeli warplanes and so on. It could well be that both [Israel and Hezbollah] are giving space, creating the kind of atmosphere for these talks to take place.

But there are deep suspicions here in Lebanon about Israeli motivations behind these recent attacks.

The suspicion is that Netanyahu and his coalition government have no desire for this negotiation process to continue, and would want to see it derailed.

From the Israeli point of view, they say they are merely responding to breaches in the ceasefire by Hezbollah. They point to the fact that the night before [Friday’s] clashes, there were, they say 50 projectiles fired by Hezbollah at Israeli forces, which killed Israeli soldiers. From Hezbollah’s point of view, they accuse the Israelis of hundreds of breaches of the ceasefire.

The effect for people, especially in the south of Lebanon, has been the same – more deaths and injuries, with the Ministry of Health now reporting that the official death toll for Friday, June 19 is 83 people, with 141 injured.

Israel seeks to normalize Gaza-style occupation in Lebanon

Israel defines a ceasefire in Iran as a situation where its troops are not being fired upon but a situation where it continues to occupy land.  That is true in Gaza. It’s true in Lebanon and even in Syria, where Israel has occupied a large swath of land in southern Syria after the fall of the [Bashar al-]Assad regime.

Now this doctrine of so-called security zones is all tied together. It started really in Gaza, and one can see a lot of parallels.

But a lot of things that Israel had tried to normalize in Gaza, they want to entrench and make standard in Lebanon: the demolition, systematic demolition of villages, the takeover of land, the fact that it wants areas that are completely empty not just of buildings, but also of people, specifically Shia villages that it views as equal and tantamount to Hezbollah positions.

And that is the doctrine that Israel is trying to protect because the fear in Israeli decision-making circles, according to reports, is that if Israel gives in on this area occupied in Lebanon, it will have to do the same in Syria. And that is something it’s not ready ideologically to do. The right wing, which is the base of this government, would not accept it.

".. a ceasefire in Iran as a situation where its troops are not being fired upon but a situation where it continues to occupy land."

Netanyahu had waged an aerial war on Iran, not a ground war.  So, how can Israeli troops fired upon when they're not in Iran.

Timeline of key events in Lebanon

• On March 2, Hezbollah launches attacks on Israel in retaliation for Israel’s near-daily attacks on Lebanon and the assassination of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
• Israel launches a ground invasion, and on March 26, Defense Minister Israel Katz says Israel will occupy southern Lebanon up to the Litani River, an area amounting to nearly a tenth of the country.
• On April 8, after the US and Iran announce a ceasefire, Israeli forces strike more than 100 sites in Lebanon in 10 minutes, killing more than 350 people.
  Israel and Lebanon agree to a ceasefire on April 16, but fighting continues in southern Lebanon, with the Israeli military and Hezbollah accusing each other of violations.
• Israeli forces bomb Beirut’s southern suburbs on June 7, prompting Iran to fire missiles towards Israel.
  The US and Iran’s presidents sign an interim deal on June 19, declaring an end to war on all fronts, including in Lebanon, but fighting continues in southern Lebanon.

• On June 13, 2025, Netanyahu starts a preemptive 12-day war on Iran
• On June 16, 2025, Netanyahu calls on the US for help in the assassination of Khamenei
• July-December 2025, Mossad and the CIA preparing the assassination of Khamenei.
• In December 2025, Netanyahu vows to attack Iran in 2026 again.
• On February 27, 2026, Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff told Trump that Iran was going to attack
• On February 28, 2026, Netanyahu resumes his preemptive 12-day war on Iran while Oman was still mediating between Iran and the US.
• On March 1, 2026, Hezbollah vows to revenge the assassination.
• On March 2, 2026, Hezbollah fires rockets into the north of colonized historic Palestine. Netanyahu drags Hezbollah, not Lebanon in his war on Iran.
• On March 2, 2026, Netanyahu brands the revenge as an "attack on Israel," and launches a ground invasion. His army claims that the "operation is limited."
• Late March 2026, Pentagon debunks Jared Kushner's claim by saying Iran wasn't preparing before Netanyahu resumed his 12-day war.

Officials in Lebanon warn of up to $20bn in war-related damage

Israel’s war on Lebanon and the wider US-Israel war on Iran are dragging Lebanon deeper into crisis, as the country still reels from the 2024 war and the 2019 financial collapse.

Officials warn the latest escalation could wipe up to 10 percent off the economy and cause as much as $20bn in damage.

Iran sending message to regional proxies: It will not abandon allies

Several [memorandum of understanding – MoU] clauses matter for Iran, like unfreezing Iranian assets, lifting the sanctions, and lifting the US blockade over the Strait of Hormuz. But these will take time.

However, the first clause of the MoU clearly says the immediate and permanent cessation of hostilities on all fronts, including Lebanon, is the key issue for the Iranians.

Just before taking off, the chief Iranian negotiator, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, said “our meeting in Switzerland is not to start the technical talks, but rather we are going there to make sure that the Americans are going to initiate implementation of the memorandum of understanding. Once that is initiated, then we can continue with the technical talks.”

Why does Lebanon matter so much to Iran? Overall, it’s about Iran’s geopolitical stance. If Iran wants to remain a regional power, Tehran has to keep the “axis of resistance” alive.

Iran has definitely invested in Hezbollah through the decades. So it is about Iran’s regional influence.

By including the regional allies in the MoU, Iran is sending a message to its allies and proxies in the region that it will not abandon them.

Netanyahu grapples with falling approval as Israeli public sees truce as defeat

Israel wants to delink the Iran and Lebanon tracks even though, realistically speaking, and even for the Israeli public, it is quite obvious that the two are interlinked.

The Israeli army had to decrease its military activity and air strikes because the anger in Washington was very clear and was very vocal as well.

Netanyahu is in a very tough position at the moment. He sees the numbers of his Likud party going down, sliding down in the polls and the numbers of his rivals in the right wing climbing.

There are reports also from Washington that Trump himself and members of his administration have now opened backchannels with opposition figures that could possibly topple him in upcoming elections.

Domestically, the ceasefire in Lebanon is very unpopular because it is seen as an admission of defeat by Israel. The Israeli prime minister had promised them that Hezbollah would be crushed, and the only thing that he is delivering is the systematic destruction of Shia villages in the south.

Lebanese government appears ‘most vulnerable of all’

Geopolitical analyst Joe Macaron says Israel is currently tactically hampered in Lebanon despite its military’s escalating attacks on the south.

The professor at the University of Bath says that Israel would rather expand its offensive into Beirut and other parts of southern Lebanon but is forced to restrict attacks to the districts of Nabatieh and Tyre.

As for Hezbollah, Macaron said the group is reacting based on what the Israelis do. If the Israelis are attacking, then Hezbollah attacks in return.

Meanwhile, the Lebanese government appears the most vulnerable of all, Macaron said, because it lacks the leverage to sway the Switzerland talks in its favour without help from Iran.

“I know there’s talk in Lebanon about sovereignty, but we have to look at the facts,” Macaron said, citing the Lebanese government’s failed attempts to engage Washington in direct, bilateral talks and have the US pressure Israel into ending its attacks.

“As long as Hezbollah is part of the Iranian security structure, Lebanon is going to continue to be hit. If the Lebanese government cannot control its border, control the security arrangement around the border or cannot make sure that every agreement it signs with Israel it can implement, it cannot have the leverage,” he added.

Iran says Lebanon conflict ‘main topic’ in US talks

Iran says the ongoing conflict in Lebanon between Israel and militant group Hezbollah will top the agenda in talks with the United States in Switzerland, as well as issues such as frozen Iranian funds and the sale of the country’s oil.

“The Zionist regime continues to violate its commitment in Lebanon, this issue will be the main topic of discussion in today’s talks,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said in a video shared by IRNA state news agency.

“The issue of making available Iran’s frozen or restricted assets, as well as the discussion related to issuing the necessary licenses for the sale of Iranian oil,” will also be on the agenda, he added.

Iran official says ‘we enter negotiations with power and caution’

Hojjatoleslam Abdollah Haji Sadeghi, the main representative of Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, says “negotiation is not the primary option” with the United States.

“We will enter negotiations with power and caution, but we are not passive,” Sadeghi was quoted as saying in a post on Telegram.

“Our primary option is the field of jihad, whether on the battlefield or in the streets. We are not worried about the negotiations failing,” he added. “We have not gone into negotiations out of desperation or helplessness.”

Gaza ‘ceasefire’ serves Israeli security, not Palestinian lives

More than 1,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since a ceasefire was agreed in October last year. Last night, the Israelis killed an entire family and an Al Jazeera journalist.

The central question for many Palestinians in Gaza remains why entire families continue to be killed despite a ceasefire framework. There is almost nine months of ceasefire since it was signed, and entire families continue to be deliberately targeted by the Israeli military.

The fact that large numbers of families are wiped out of the civil registry indicates a failure to adequately provide protection for the civilian population across the Gaza Strip.

Regarding, for example, the killing of the Safadi family, reports indicate that an air strike targeted a residential building, killing multiple family members, including children.

We don’t have explanation of why the Israeli military continues to target entire families.

The challenge that people face in Gaza is the fact that the Israeli military defines ceasefire as a halt of attacks on it’s a soldier, it’s a military force that is occupying many parts of the Gaza Strip while maintaining its right to attack whenever it wants.

"entire families"

The Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide:

Article II

In the present Convention, genocide means any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such:

1. Killing members of the group.
2. Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group.
3. Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part.
    

This is the case in Gaza for at least two years. This is going to be the case in Lebanon if the Israelis continue to violate the ceasefire with the Lebanese government, the recently reported ceasefire with Hezbollah, and ignoring the fact that Lebanon is included in the MoU.

"a halt of attacks on it’s a soldier ... while maintaining its right to attack ....

In Gaza, everyone must cease, while the Israelis continue.

Gaza death toll rises

At least nine Palestinians have been killed and 41 others injured in Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip in the past 24 hours, according to the enclave’s Health Ministry.

Israel has killed 3,249 people across Gaza since the “ceasefire” came into force in October last year, the ministry said on Sunday.

The total number of people killed in Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza has reached 73,032, with 173,357 people injured, the statement said.

Despite halt of attacks ‘deep suspicion about Israeli intentions’ in Lebanon

There has been a distinct lull in Israeli military activity this Sunday in Lebanon. There has been nothing really of significance happening in contrast to the last couple of days.

Whether this is a new ceasefire – nothing has officially been announced – or merely a resumption of the old one, regardless, it is widely welcomed given the scale of violence reported over the last few days.

But there remains a deep suspicion about Israeli intentions and, specifically, about Netanyahu and what his next moves might be given the escalating attacks and increase in air raids.

It wouldn’t take much once these peace talks in Switzerland are over for the Israelis to escalate once more – the suspicion being of course that Netanyahu – despite his protestations – is not really interested in this whole negotiating process.

No restrictions on Israel army in south Lebanon: Defense chief

There are no restrictions preventing Israeli ⁠soldiers to act against ⁠threats in southern Lebanon with invading troops remaining in the ‌so-called “security zone”, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz says.

Israeli air strikes killed dozens of people in Lebanon on Saturday – a day ⁠after a ceasefire with Iran-backed Hezbollah took effect ‌after months of escalating violence.

“The ceasefire announced yesterday leaves the [military] in all positions in the security zone that protects the northern communities,” Katz said.

“There has never been, and there is currently no restriction on soldiers in Lebanon from acting to eliminate threats… As Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and I have made clear: Israel will not withdraw from the security zone in Lebanon.”

Katz’s remarks come after Iran warned it wouldn’t enter talks on a broader agreement with Washington unless Israel’s war on Lebanon ends.

"to act against ⁠threats"

Like in the West Bank, where the Israeli war belligerent is occupying, they create threats. And when the occupied people try to resist, the Israelis branding it as a "threat." It is no different in Gaza, where no civilian is resisting, it is visible on the daily basis.

There where they wage or have have waged war, the Israelis always brought threats with them even to Lebanon since June 13, 2025.

‘Great opportunity’ for Iran to split the US-Israeli alliance

When it comes to Israel’s ongoing attacks on southern Lebanon, a defense analyst says the Iranians are manipulating the situation to create tension between staunch allies the US and Israel.

“I think Iran is using Lebanon as a tool to widen the gap between Israel and the United States – or to be more precise between the Netanyahu government and the Trump administration,” Wolfgang Pusztai said.

“Of course, Iran intends to stop the Israeli offensive in southern Lebanon. But Tehran, Beirut, Hezbollah, the Israelis and also President Trump know that this is not very realistic. The Israelis will retaliate if they are attacked.”

For the time being, the Israelis “will calm down in order not to undermine Trump’s effort, but they will retaliate if required”, Pusztai said.

“And as I said, most important for Tehran is certainly that this is a great opportunity for them – a great opportunity to split the alliance between Washington and Tel Aviv. And this is what they’re particularly pursuing right now.”

Trump says Iran must stop proxies in Lebanon from causing ‘trouble’

The US president says Tehran “must immediately stop their highly paid proxies in Lebanon from causing trouble”.

“If they don’t, we’ll hit Iran very hard again, just like we did last week, only harder!!!” he posted on Truth Social.

Trump is very clear trying to turn the facts the other way around, while he and Netanyahu initiated Hezbollah to react to the Israeli assassination of Khamenei.

Then we have the ceasefire violations by the Israelis before they agreed to a ceasefire with Hezbollah, which they even violated a few minutes after the ceasefire came into effect.

Trump is just showing that he has no ability to control the Israelis, so he shoves his responsibility, he has on MoU's Article 1, on Iran's plate.

His threat comes amid JD Vance's attempt to approach the Iranians diplomatically.

Iran talks test whether Trump can force Israel to halt Lebanon war

The US and Iranian goals are somewhat on the same page. They said they want to make sure the Lebanon situation is sorted.

Obviously, Israel gets a vote in that, and this has been a very unusual time in American politics where we’ve seen not just the president having very feisty calls with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, but Vice President Vance on camera warning the Israelis they shouldn’t upset their only friend left in the world.

And so that is going to be a focus. Can the United States actually demand Israel stop hostilities in Lebanon? In the past, we’ve seen US presidents ask the prime minister to stop doing something and he simply ignored them.

It’s a bit different now because since Netanyahu came to Congress to try and torpedo the first deal with Iran, he started losing Democratic support. There are some polls that say seven out of 10 Democrats now say they want to withdraw all US funding for Israel.

So Israel is in the position where it will have to decide: does it want to anger the US side or does it want to stop hostilities?

Israeli army chief says troops remain ready for combat in Lebanon

The chief of staff of the Israeli war belligerent Eyal Zamir ⁠⁠says the “ceasefire” in Lebanon is fragile and occupying forces must maintain a high level of readiness for a possible resumption ⁠⁠of fighting with Hezbollah.

Speaking ⁠⁠in southern Lebanon, Zamir said ⁠⁠troops must be prepared ⁠⁠to ⁠⁠”eliminate threats” and transition rapidly to renewed attacks ‌‌if required.

“Hezbollah has suffered a severe and significant blow, and we are committed to remaining prepared to continue operating and prevent its rebuilding,” Zamir said, according to a military statement. “Hezbollah is in a very difficult position.”

Israel is under mounting pressure to halt its war on Lebanon and withdraw soldiers from the south, as demanded by Hezbollah ally Iran during negotiations with the US.

"... the “ceasefire” in Lebanon is fragile..."

If there is a ceasefire by reported consent, so not a ceasefire concluded by a followed process, then violated within minutes, there is no ceasefire not even a fragile one.

Because, the two ceasefires 'agreed' in Washington by the Israeli war belligerent with the non-combating Lebanese government, took days to achieve and still violated by the Israelis.

What is the sudden ceasefire with Hezbollah?

Lebanon death toll rises

At least 4,106 have been killed and 12,153 wounded since the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah began on March 2, according to Lebanon’s Ministry of Public Health.

Among those killed were 383 women, 251 children, and 135 medical workers, it added.

Hezbollah rejects Lebanese government’s negotiations with US

Hezbollah has rejected the Lebanese government’s direct talks with the US, saying the negotiations would undermine Lebanon’s sovereignty and serve Israeli interests.

In a statement, the group said the Lebanese delegation in Washington was being asked to sign off on US dictates that “confiscate Lebanon’s sovereignty” and align Beirut with those reconciling with Israel.

The group said the talks were based on a “flawed” premise and would lead to “capitulation” rather than serve Lebanese interests.

The government’s participation “hinders confronting the enemy’s project, the resistance’s efforts on the ground, and the great sacrifices of our great people” which it said the state could leverage to press for a complete and unconditional Israeli withdrawal from Lebanese territory.

The group also said the government’s attendance increased risks to Lebanon’s stability and independence and amounted to “compliance with US and Israeli policy objectives”.

Hezbollah chief says group to respond to any ceasefire violation

Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem says Israel will not remain in Lebanon, adding that the group will respond to any ceasefire violation by Israel.

His statements came as Israeli officials ⁠say that ⁠troops are free to act without restriction ⁠to eliminate threats ⁠in Lebanon despite ⁠an agreed ceasefire that took effect ‌on Friday.

US pressure could be why Israel is minimizing attacks on Lebanon

There is a lot of emphasis on the fact that Israel is not withdrawing from southern Lebanon.

Military analysts are saying that it’s only allowed for the Israelis to attack a Hezbollah operative or someone who’s coming close to the troops there, but rather not being able to do more than that.

This restraint might be happening, but it is not publicly announced by the Israelis. And according to certain officials telling Channel 12, they believe that the American pressure on the Netanyahu government is the reason why the Israelis are trying to minimize their attacks on southern Lebanon, as well as on other areas while they continue to lobby and to talk about the need to stay in southern Lebanon.

There is concern that Iran has not been able to rein in Hezbollah

Some interlocutors are saying that there’s concern that Iran has not been able to rein in Hezbollah.

The Iranian position remains that, as long as Israel continues to occupy Lebanese territory, the fight is there. Hezbollah has the right to respond to any occupation activities.

There are also issues relating to sanctions relief and the release of funds.

There has been a lot of speculation about how much funding Iran can get directly or indirectly, and in this MoU there’s the fund of $300 billion that needs to be made available to Iran.

So all of those issues are still being hammered out. No side has so far left the venue. They’re all here. This is target diplomacy, which could take some time to resolve.

Israel lifts all war-related restrictions on northern border areas

Israel has announced the lifting of all restrictions imposed on northern border areas amid a fragile ceasefire with Hezbollah in Lebanon.

“Starting at 6:00 am on Monday, June 22, 2026, all restrictions will be lifted in the Confrontation Line area,” the Israeli military said, adding that the border communities “will move to a full activity level, with no restrictions, instead of a partial activity level”.

Israeli forces killed dozens of people in Lebanon on Saturday, despite the truce.

Israel and US publicly split over Iran and Lebanon

A public divergence has opened up between the US and Israel over the peace process, according to Negar Mortazavi, Senior Fellow at the Center for International Policy.

She added that priorities for Iran and the US both diverge.

“For the US, what’s important is the opening of the Hormuz, and for the Iranians, that’s the most important point.”

As a result, “they’re going to go and use their leverage, which was Hormuz, to try to bring that pressure to Washington to then indirectly pressure Israel to stop the escalations”.