Israel Strikes Lebanon as Ceasefire Talks Begin Amid US-Iran Truce Dispute

Hundreds of Lebanese civilians and fighters have died in the days since a US-brokered ceasefire with Iran was announced, raising fears that one fragile truce could drag the region back into open war. Israeli jets continue to hit targets in southern Lebanon and Beirut suburbs. Global oil prices have edged toward $100 a barrel as traffic through the Strait of Hormuz remains far below normal levels. The central tension is simple and unresolved: Israel insists its campaign against Hezbollah was never part of the Iran deal, while Tehran, Pakistan and much of the international community say it must stop for any larger agreement to hold.

The sequence began on February 28 when US and Israeli strikes hit Iranian military and nuclear sites, killing Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, according to multiple intelligence summaries. Hezbollah opened a second front on March 2 with missile barrages into northern Israel. Israel responded with an air and limited ground campaign in southern Lebanon that has since killed at least 1,888 people, according to Lebanese health authorities; Israeli officials say the majority were fighters. Hezbollah has fired more than 3,000 rockets and drones since early March, per IDF tallies, though Israeli civilian deaths from the latest barrages remain near zero thanks to interceptions and evacuations.

On Tuesday night Pakistan announced a two-week US-Iran ceasefire. Iranian and Pakistani statements explicitly included Lebanon. Trump and Netanyahu quickly clarified that it did not. Within hours Israeli aircraft struck Beirut and southern villages, killing more than 300 in a single day according to Lebanese officials and the International Committee of the Red Cross. Hezbollah answered with rockets toward Kiryat Shmona, Metula and other border towns. Netanyahu stated publicly there is "no ceasefire in Lebanon" and that strikes would continue "with full force" until Hezbollah is disarmed. He simultaneously directed his cabinet to open direct talks with the Lebanese government.

Those talks are now scheduled for next week in Washington, hosted by the US State Department. Israeli Ambassador Yechiel Leiter and Lebanese counterpart Nada Hamadeh Moawad are expected to attend the first session, though senior figures such as Ron Dermer on the Israeli side and Simon Karam on the Lebanese side may join later rounds. Israel's stated goals are Hezbollah disarmament and a formal peace treaty. Lebanon insists a full ceasefire must precede substantive negotiations. The Lebanese government banned Hezbollah military activities in March, yet the group retains significant political power and an arsenal Israeli officials describe as still intact.

Trump told Netanyahu to be "low-key," according to White House and Israeli sources. Vice President JD Vance, who will lead the US delegation to follow-on Iran talks in Pakistan this weekend, described the Lebanon exclusion as a "legitimate misunderstanding." Iran has warned it will not abandon Hezbollah and has threatened to reseal the Strait of Hormuz, through which one-fifth of global oil and LNG normally passes. Only 11 ships transited in the first 24 hours after the truce, less than a tenth of pre-war volume; roughly 1,400 vessels remain anchored in the Gulf.

International reaction has been sharply critical of the scale of Israeli strikes on densely populated areas. The EU, UK, France, Canada and Japan issued a joint call for full implementation of the ceasefire "including in Lebanon." EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas noted that while Hezbollah dragged Lebanon into the conflict, the destruction "makes it hard to argue" the response remains within self-defense. Humanitarian agencies report more than one million displaced, a growing food-security crisis, 600 children killed or wounded since March and systematic damage to bridges over the Litani River that now isolates southern communities. Israeli officials counter that launchers were placed in civilian zones and that strikes target command centers and weapons caches.

The contradiction sits at the heart of the story. Israel and the US maintain the Lebanon campaign is a separate defensive necessity against an Iranian proxy that has attacked Israeli territory for decades. Iran, Hezbollah and much of the Arab world view the continued strikes as proof the larger truce was never serious. Whether next week's Washington meeting can produce even a temporary halt while fighting persists will determine if the Hormuz channel reopens fully, whether sanctions relief becomes possible, and whether the body count in Lebanon stops rising before the two-week window closes.