TYRE, Lebanon — Israeli airstrikes struck southern Lebanon on Saturday, killing at least seven people — among them two children — just hours after reports surfaced of a ceasefire agreement. The continued violence is now threatening an interim accord between the United States and Iran aimed at ending the broader Middle East conflict.
Lebanon’s National News Agency reported that the strikes hit the southern town of Nabatiyeh and surrounding villages, with at least seven more people still trapped beneath rubble in the aftermath.
Mediators have been working frantically to stop the fighting between Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah. The situation escalated sharply on Friday, when clashes left at least 47 people dead in Lebanon and four Israeli soldiers killed.
An Israeli military official, speaking anonymously in accordance with regulations, said Hezbollah fired more than 50 projectiles at Israeli forces in southern Lebanon overnight, prompting Israel to begin targeting the group there.
Israel’s ambassador to Washington, Yechiel Leiter, wrote on X Friday that Israel “remains firmly committed to an immediate ceasefire” — but only if Hezbollah honors the agreement and stops its attacks.
Hezbollah has publicly stated it will observe a ceasefire if Israel does the same, but has stopped short of confirming that any ceasefire is actually in effect. A Hezbollah official, speaking anonymously because he was not authorized to comment publicly, said Friday that Qatar, the U.S., and Iran were all working to broker a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah — but declined to say a deal had been finalized.
The conflict between Hezbollah and Israel erupted just days after the U.S. and Israel launched strikes on Iran on February 28. Hezbollah responded by firing rockets and drones at civilian areas in northern Israel, while Israel moved to seize large portions of southern Lebanon.
An interim agreement between the U.S. and Iran, signed digitally earlier this week, has already produced one tangible result: the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran had closed during the conflict — a move that had cut off major global supplies of oil and natural gas. The deal also calls for renewed talks on Iran’s nuclear program, which is at the heart of the wider conflict.
Neither Israel nor Hezbollah signed the deal. It calls for a halt to military operations in Lebanon and for Lebanon’s sovereignty to be respected. With fighting still ongoing, the agreement is now in jeopardy. U.S.-Iran talks scheduled to begin Friday in Switzerland have been postponed with no new date set.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has pledged to keep Israeli forces in southern Lebanon until all threats to Israel are eliminated. Hezbollah has refused to stand down unless Israel commits to withdrawing from Lebanon — a condition Iran says is also part of the deal.
Smoke could be seen rising over southern Lebanon on Saturday, and Israeli jets flew low over the coastal city of Tyre. A strike on the village of Barish killed four family members — two parents and their two children. In the village of Arab Salim, a body was recovered from a destroyed home. Drone strikes in the villages of Doueir and Kfar Rumman killed a person on a motorcycle and a Lebanese soldier.
Netanyahu’s office offered no immediate response to questions about the ceasefire efforts. On Friday, Netanyahu posted on X that, on his orders, the Israeli military had “struck powerfully” at 150 Hezbollah targets, killing dozens of militants. Military spokesman Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin said Israeli forces were operating in a “forward defense zone” and would continue to do so.
Iranian officials canceled their planned travel to Switzerland, saying the fighting in Lebanon must stop before negotiations can proceed. U.S. Vice President JD Vance also postponed his trip to Switzerland.
On Saturday, Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei told the semi-official ISNA news agency that Pakistan’s interior minister would travel to Iran as part of continuing diplomatic efforts. Baghaei said earlier that consultations through intermediaries were ongoing regarding the next phase of negotiations toward a final U.S.-Iran agreement. He noted that because the initial deal was signed digitally, the Switzerland meeting was not considered urgent, and plans were being made to hold talks in the coming days.
The Switzerland talks were expected to center on Iran’s nuclear program. Tehran insists the program is for peaceful purposes only, though it holds a large stockpile of uranium enriched to levels just below weapons-grade — enough to build multiple atomic bombs if it chose to, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency, the United Nations nuclear watchdog.
The negotiations are expected to be challenging. The 2015 nuclear deal — which U.S. President Donald Trump abandoned during his first term — took more than 18 months to complete. The current interim agreement gives negotiators 60 days to reach a nuclear deal, with the possibility of an extension. It also offers significant incentives for Iran, including the eventual removal of all international sanctions and a $300 billion fund for postwar rebuilding.
Iran has already gained some concessions. Following the signing of the interim deal, the U.S. lifted its blockade of Iranian ports and is now allowing Iran to sell its oil on the open market. The agreement also calls for Iran’s frozen assets to be released, though the timeline for that remains unclear.
