BEIRUT: Lebanon said Israeli strikes killed four people in the country’s south on Tuesday as Israel said it intercepted Hezbollah rockets and launched raids, despite a US-Iran deal that includes Lebanon.
Lebanon’s official National News Agency (NNA) said Israeli drone strikes targeted two vehicles in the town of Mayfadoun and another in nearby Shukeen, both in the Nabatieh area, “leading to an initial toll of four dead” and others wounded.
The Israeli military said it conducted a strike in south Lebanon after it “identified a suspicious vehicle” where its soldiers were operating, without specifying where.
It also said its forces intercepted several rockets fired at Israeli soldiers in south Lebanon, following which the air force “struck and dismantled” a launcher.
Leaders discuss preparations for new round of talks
While violence declined in Lebanon after the US-Iran agreement to end the Middle East war was announced on Monday, Israeli strikes on the south have now killed at least five people since, according to the NNA.
The reduction in violence has allowed some south Lebanon residents to return and inspect their towns and villages, but the Lebanese army has urged locals to delay their return, citing “the risk of Israeli violations and attacks”.
Lebanon’s health ministry on Tuesday raised the death toll in Israeli attacks since March 2 to 3,826, as rescuers pull bodies from the rubble.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Tuesday that an end to the conflict would be incomplete “without the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the territories it occupied in this war”.
“Any military attack by the Zionist regime on Lebanon from now on and the continued occupation of Lebanese territories from now on will be considered a violation of the memorandum of understanding in our view,” he added.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday that the country’s forces would remain in Lebanon “for as long as necessary”.
New round of talks
Lebanon’s president and prime minister on Tuesday discussed preparations for a new round of talks with Israel next week, after the US and Iran announced a peace deal that includes Lebanon.
Lebanon and Israel have been holding direct talks in Washington since April, seeking to end hostilities and separate the Israel-Hezbollah conflict from the wider regional war. But the announcement of the US-Iran deal has reshuffled the cards in Lebanon.
The office of President Joseph Aoun said in a statement that he and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam discussed preparations for the fifth round of talks, scheduled to begin on June 22.
The pair view the US-Iran memorandum of understanding as “a positive factor in reducing the regional tensions and pushing towards peaceful solutions and an end to the state of war”, according to the statement.
They also reiterated that through the Washington talks, Lebanon continues to seek “a permanent ceasefire and the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the lands they occupy, the deployment of the Lebanese army up to the international border, the return of Lebanese prisoners and launching the reconstruction process”.
Published in Dawn, June 17th, 2026