ISRAELI strikes on southern Lebanon on Saturday killed at least 16 people, including two children, hours after reports emerged of a ceasefire agreement. The persistent fighting threatened an interim agreement between the United States and Iran to end the war in the Middle East. Lebanon’s National News Agency said the strikes hit the southern town of Nabatiyeh and nearby villages. At least seven people remained trapped under the rubble, it said. Mediators were scrambling to halt the fighting between Israel and the militant Lebanese Hezbollah group, after a heavy exchange on Friday killed at least 47 people in Lebanon and four Israeli soldiers. An Israeli military official said Hezbollah had fired more than 50 projectiles at Israeli forces in southern Lebanon overnight, prompting the military to start targeting the militant group there. The official spoke anonymously in line with regulations.

 

The army said it struck dozens of Hezbollah targets and militants in southern Lebanon, including rocket-launching positions and Hezbollah command centers. On Friday, Israeli ambassador to Washington, Yechiel Leiter, said on X that Israel “remains firmly committed to an immediate ceasefire” if Hezbollah honors the agreement and ceases hostilities. On Saturday, Hezbollah said it had committed to the ceasefire but blamed Israel for violating it several times on Friday night. A statement issued by the group’s military wing said it would abide by the ceasefire but would also repel attacks by Israeli troops. Hezbollah and Israel went to war just days after the US and Israel launched strikes on Iran on Feb. 28, with Hezbollah firing rockets and drones at civilian communities in northern Israel and Israel seizing large swaths of southern Lebanon.

 

The interim US Iran agreement signed this week has already reopened the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran had closed as the war unfolded - cutting off the global economy from significant supplies of oil and natural gas. The deal also envisages the relaunch of talks on Iran’s nuclear program, a core issue in the war. Neither Israel nor Hezbollah are signatories to the deal, which calls for a halt to military operations in Lebanon and for the country’s sovereignty to be respected. With the fighting continuing, the accord is under threat and U.S.-Iran talks in Switzerland, planned to start Friday, have been delayed, with no new date announced. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to keep Israeli forces in southern Lebanon until any threat to Israel is eliminated.