US President Donald Trump has said Israel will rein back strikes on Lebanon after Tehran threatened to pull out of negotiations with the US if they continued.
The announcement from Washington came as the Lebanese president said in a statement that Hezbollah had also agreed to a US proposal which calls for a “reciprocal cessation of attacks.”
The news about the pause in fighting came shortly after Benjamin Netanyahu ordered attacks on the southern suburbs of Beirut.
Israel pushed further into Lebanon on Sunday and Monday, setting up forward bases in positions beyond the agreed-upon ceasefire line and the deepest position in the country in 26 years.
In retaliation, Hezbollah fired rockets at northern Israel, including the outskirts of the coastal city of Haifa.
Israel’s recent advance presented a threat to the emerging deal to extend the fragile US-Iran war truce. Tehran wants any agreement to end fighting to also include Lebanon and has repeatedly warned against Israel’s actions.
Qatar called it a “dangerous escalation” and Germany’s foreign minister said it was cause for serious concern.
In mid-April, Hezbollah agreed to halt attacks on Israel when the ceasefire was signed, but resumed following Israeli strikes in Lebanon, which Netanyahu’s government characterised as self-defence.
Israeli airstrikes overnight on Sunday on southern Lebanon left six people dead, including a Syrian citizen in a village near the city of Nabatiyeh, the state-run National News Agency said.
On Sunday, Israel seized the 900-year-old Beaufort Castle, which sits on top of a strategically important ridge.
At least 3,412 people have been killed in Lebanon, and more than one million displaced since the start of the war.
According to Netanyahu’s office, at least 26 Israeli soldiers and a defence contractor have been killed in or near southern Lebanon. Two civilians have also been killed in northern Israel.
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