• Israeli forces continue attacks on southern Lebanon despite a US-brokered “ceasefire”, killing at least four people near the city of Nabatieh.
• Lebanon’s President Joseph Aoun says Israeli forces are “preventing the deployment” of the Lebanese army in southern areas, as ongoing attacks keep more than 600,000 from returning to their homes.

Israel’s deadly bombardment of Lebanon continues

The following were reported today but happened yesterday

• An Israeli drone strike struck a car on the road to Dar al-Mu’allimin (the Teachers’ Institute) in Nabatieh al-Fawqa, killing four civilians, including school principal Esperanza Ghandour.
• An Israeli drone raid hit Baraachit in the Bint Jbeil district amid intermittent artillery shelling and machinegun sweeping operations along the ridge lines.
• Israeli forces executed a localized ground advancement towards the cemetery in Haddatha, in the Bint Jbeil district, while also opening fire. Successive air strikes heavily targeted both Haddatha and nearby Beit Yahoun later in the evening.
• A new air strike hit Qantara, accompanied by heavy artillery shelling concentrated across Qantara, Deir Siryan, and Touline in southern Lebanon.
• Artillery shelling also targeted the outskirts and vicinities of the border towns of Qusayr, Qabrikha, and Hula.

Lebanon’s Aoun to meet Trump at White House later this month

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun says he is preparing to travel to the White House before the end of July to meet Trump in a visit aimed at advancing the framework agreement with Israel.

The trip follows a 17-minute phone call on Sunday between the two leaders that Aoun described as “good”.

In an interview with Lebanese daily An-Nahar, Aoun acknowledged that the framework agreement is “not ideal”, but that the Lebanese government’s acceptance of it reflects the facts on the ground and the current balance of power in the south, which favors Israel.

“This is a framework, not an agreement with Israel… No one should bet on the Lebanese army’s division, and I will not let my people die,” Aoun said, adding that the deal would not stop Lebanon from pursuing its rights and recovering occupied land.

He also said the phased security transition would begin with a pilot deployment in Zawtar in the Nabatieh district, testing a model in which the Lebanese army takes exclusive control of specific towns to facilitate incremental Israeli military withdrawals. The comment comes amid concern that Israel could strike the nearby Ali Al-Taher hill.

Aoun said Lebanese officials had asked US Secretary of State Marco Rubio to ensure the hill remains under Lebanese army control, and that Netanyahu had agreed to the proposal.

He also defended Lebanon’s decision to send a minister to the funeral of Iran’s late supreme leader, saying: “Our diplomatic relations with Iran continue and are not severed.”

".. which favors Israel."

A ceasefire framework is a structured set of rules, procedures, and conditions negotiated by conflicting parties to halt hostilities. It serves as a vital precursor to long-term peace negotiations, providing a systematic platform to reduce immediate violence, separate forces, and create safe zones for humanitarian relief'.

However, if one looks at the wording used to draft the framework, paragraphs look clearly written in a language of ambiguity.

For instance, no time frame is mentioned, and the word "redeployment" is used instead "withdrawal."

Israeli attacks keep more than 600,000 people from returning to southern Lebanon

Ongoing Israeli attacks have left more than 600,000 people unable to return to their homes in southern Lebanon.

A Lebanese government survey estimates that more than 90,000 homes have been damaged or destroyed, with reconstruction costs exceeding $1bn. Those who have managed to return describe living in constant fear, while the international community has made aid conditional on Hezbollah’s disarmament, a demand the group refuses to meet.

Christian-majority villages in southern Lebanon reaffirm Lebanese identity after Netanyahu comments

Christian-majority villages along Lebanon’s southern border have rejected Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s claim that they sought to join Israel.

Mayors, clergy and community leaders from villages across Lebanon’s border region told Anadolu news agency that they remain committed to their Lebanese identity.

“Residents of the border villages remain committed to the Lebanese state and its legitimacy, and have never deviated from this position despite the difficult conditions imposed by Israel’s assault,” the municipalities representing Christian border villages said in a joint statement.

The municipalities added that residents “are proud of their national belonging, hold firmly to Lebanon as their homeland, and reject any attempt to distort their position or exploit their suffering for agendas that have nothing to do with them.”

On Sunday, Netanyahu claimed in a televised interview that some Christian villages in southern Lebanon had asked to be annexed by Israel for protection from Hezbollah.

On July 5, 2026

• Netanyahu has claimed that some Christian villages in southern Lebanon had asked to be annexed by Israel in order to be protected from Hezbollah.

On July 6, 2026

• Lebanese Christians have rejected Israeli claims that residents of Christian border villages in southern Lebanon have asked to join Israel or obtain Israeli citizenship.

But the claim he made is not his:

On July 2, 2026, the Israeli C14 fabricated the claim.

Israeli forces conduct patrols with armored vehicles in southern Lebanon

Israeli forces are conducting patrols in the villages of the western sector of southern Lebanon with armored vehicles, the country’s National News Agency (NNA) reports.

It added that the patrols were accompanied by heavy gunfire towards the sides of the roads and the woods opposite the roads.

Earlier, NNA reported that Israeli drones were flying over those villages.

Israel, Lebanon to hold talks in Rome this month

Israeli and Lebanese ambassadors are due to hold direct talks in Rome on July 15 and 16, Italy’s Foreign Ministry says.

“We welcome with pleasure the announcement that the next round of talks between Israel and Lebanon mediated by the US will take place in Rome,” Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said on X.

A ministry spokesman said the talks would take place at the ambassador level after several rounds of discussions aimed at de-escalation were held in Washington.

This round of talks will be the sixth in the last few months between the two neighbors, which do not have diplomatic relations and are technically in a state of war.

The two countries and the US signed a framework agreement last month aimed at “lasting peace”, five days after a fragile ceasefire was signed between the Israeli army and the pro-Iranian Hezbollah group.

Israeli forces drop four stun grenades in southern Lebanon

Israeli forces have dropped four stun grenades on the town of Haddatha, southern Lebanon, the country’s National News Agency reports.

At the same time, the town of Beit Yahoun was subjected to artillery shelling, which coincided with an enemy bombing in the town of Qounine in the Bint Jbeil district, it added.

Lebanese president urges more international pressure on Israel ‘to cease attacks’

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun has condemned continued Israeli attacks on civilians and the killing of four people on Monday in the town of Nabatieh.

Aoun made the comments on his X account after meeting representatives of the Free Patriotic Movement, a Christian group led by former Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil.

Bassil has conditionally backed Lebanon’s framework agreement with Israel, which has been condemned by Hezbollah for not addressing Israel’s occupation of southern Lebanon.

Aoun said no outside influence will be allowed to determine Lebanese interests and the course of negotiations with Israel.

Germany’s foreign minister says Lebanon ‘must remove Hezbollah threat to Israel’

Germany’s foreign minister has told the Lebanese government to confront Hezbollah to end threats to Israel in southern Lebanon.

Johann Wadephul made the comments on a trip to Israel as he praised the framework agreement between Beirut and Tel Aviv.

“Lebanon must ensure that no danger whatsoever to Israel emanates from Lebanese territory,” Wadephul said at a joint news conference with his Israeli counterpart.

Germany has backed Israel’s invasion of southern Lebanon while ignoring the fact that Netanyahu spilled over the resumption on February 28th of his preemptive 12-day war on Iran in June 2025 by assassinating the now late Iranian Supreme Leader knowing that Hezbollah would respond.

Therefore, we have left strong criticism on the X-account of @GermanyDiplo

Lebanon’s death toll from Israeli attacks rises

Israeli attacks across Lebanon since March 2 have killed 4,320 people and wounded 12,203, says Lebanon’s Health Ministry.

Netanyahu’s Christian comments ‘aimed at sowing strife’

A number of Lebanon’s Christian villages have refuted claims by Netanyahu that they had requested Israeli annexation.

Lebanese analysts and southern Lebanon residents have lambasted the Israeli prime ministers’ claims, with some using colorful language.

“[Netanyahu’s claims] reflect his cynicism and the fact that he’s a pathological liar,” Karim Emile Bitar, a professor of international relations at the Saint Joseph University of Beirut, said.

“Several Lebanese MPs and government officials called every single mayor of all towns in south Lebanon, and there is absolutely no truth in these statements. It is completely a fabricated claim.”

Some analysts believe Netanyahu and the Israeli government are trying to amplify tensions within Lebanon’s sectarian system with the goal of creating internal conflict.