Israel and Lebanon have agreed to renew their fragile ceasefire and establish a number of “pilot” security zones inside Lebanon where Hezbollah operatives would be barred, according to a joint statement issued by the United States on Wednesday.
The agreement, reached after a fourth round of US-mediated talks in Washington, is aimed at reducing escalating hostilities along the Israel-Lebanon border and creating conditions for broader negotiations between the two countries.
In the joint statement, the parties said the deal was “contingent on a complete cessation” of attacks by the Iran-backed Hezbollah group and the “evacuation of all operatives” from the area between the Israeli border and the Litani River, approximately 30 kilometres north of the frontier.
The statement added that the United States would assist in creating “pilot zones in which the Lebanese Armed Forces will take exclusive control of the territory to the exclusion of all non-state actors”.
The three countries also declared that they “rejected any attempt, by any state or non-state actor, to hold Lebanon’s future hostage”.
Although the agreement did not include maps identifying the proposed security zones or details of how they would function, officials said representatives from both countries would meet again on June 22 “with a view toward reaching a comprehensive agreement”.
The latest development follows a partial ceasefire announced earlier this week, under which Lebanon said Israel would refrain from bombing Beirut in exchange for Hezbollah halting attacks on northern Israel.
However, violence continued on the ground even as the diplomatic breakthrough was announced.
Lebanese state media reported that Israeli strikes resumed across southern Lebanon on Thursday, with casualties recorded in several locations. Lebanon’s health ministry said four Syrians and two Palestinians were killed in an Israeli strike in the al-Housh area near the coastal city of Tyre.
The ministry also reported that two paramedics were killed and another seriously wounded after Israeli forces “directly targeted an ambulance” in the Chehour area. The ambulance belonged to the Risala Scouts Association, which is affiliated with the Amal movement, a Hezbollah ally.
Accusing Israel of violating international humanitarian law, the ministry said the attacks demonstrated “contempt for international humanitarian law”, which protects medical personnel during conflicts.
According to the ministry, at least 128 paramedics and healthcare workers have been killed in Israeli strikes on ambulances and medical facilities over the past three months.
The Israeli military did not immediately comment on the allegations, although it has previously claimed that ambulances were being used for military purposes without publicly presenting evidence.
The Lebanese army also announced that one of its soldiers was killed in an Israeli air strike near Nabatieh, while two others were wounded in a separate attack on a military vehicle.
In a statement, the army condemned what it described as “a pattern of deliberate strikes targeting army personnel, vehicles and positions” by Israeli forces.
Meanwhile, the Israeli military said it intercepted a “hostile aircraft” and two projectiles crossing from Lebanon into northern Israel near the Manara, Kiryat Shmona and Misgav Am areas.
Although Israel did not directly accuse Hezbollah, the group later confirmed it had launched rockets “in response to the Israeli enemy army’s violation of the ceasefire”.
Hezbollah said its fighters targeted “a gathering of Israeli enemy army soldiers” in northern Israel with a rocket barrage.
The group has, however, distanced itself from the latest US-backed negotiations.
Mahmoud Qamati, a member of Hezbollah’s political council, dismissed reports of a broader ceasefire agreement.
“There was no ceasefire agreement, just the protection of Dahieh,” Qamati told the BBC, referring to Beirut’s southern suburbs, a Hezbollah stronghold.
He further rejected the legitimacy of the Washington talks, saying: “We think these negotiations do not concern us, nor do we recognise their findings or decisions, because we have rejected them on principle.”
Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir also criticised the agreement, describing it as “a serious mistake” that would allow Hezbollah to “grow stronger”.
The conflict intensified after Hezbollah launched rockets into Israel on March 2 in retaliation for an Israeli strike that reportedly killed Iran’s supreme leader. Israel responded with a major air campaign and ground invasion in southern Lebanon.
A previous US-brokered ceasefire reached on April 16 failed to halt the fighting, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last week ordered intensified strikes on Hezbollah positions following renewed rocket and drone attacks on northern Israeli communities.
According to Lebanon’s health ministry, at least 3,516 people have been killed in Lebanon since the war began, although the figures do not distinguish between civilians and combatants.
The United Nations says more than one million people have been displaced, with Israeli evacuation orders now covering more than one-eighth of Lebanese territory.
Israel, meanwhile, says 26 soldiers and four civilians have been killed during the conflict.
US President Donald Trump, who announced the earlier partial truce, reportedly pushed for the latest ceasefire arrangement amid concerns that further escalation in Lebanon could derail wider negotiations involving Iran.
Trump appeared on Wednesday to confirm reports that he had angrily confronted Netanyahu over strikes on Beirut, amid fears of a broader regional war.
Iran has warned that any regional ceasefire must also include Lebanon.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi warned on Wednesday that if Israeli attacks on Beirut continued, Iran’s armed forces were “fully prepared” to resume the war, according to the Tasnim news agency.
Boluwatife Enome.
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