Erin Cunningham, Jon Gambrell and Aamer Madhani
Jerusalem: Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group agreed on Friday to halt the heavy fighting in southern Lebanon that had threatened to unravel an interim peace agreement between the United States and Iran, officials said. Neither Israel nor Hezbollah immediately confirmed the truce.
It came after a heavy exchange of fire killed 47 people in Lebanon and four Israeli soldiers.
Hezbollah and Israel went to war shortly after the outbreak of the wider conflict, with Hezbollah firing rockets and drones at civilian communities in northern Israel and Israel seizing large swaths of southern Lebanon.
The agreement to end the Iran war calls for a halt to military operations in Lebanon and for its sovereignty to be respected. Neither Israel nor Hezbollah is a party to the deal.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to keep Israeli forces in southern Lebanon until the threat is eliminated. Hezbollah has refused to halt its attacks unless Israel commits to withdrawing from Lebanon, which Iran says is also a condition of the wider agreement.
The deal aims to end the war between the US and Iran, open the Strait of Hormuz to relieve the world economy, and relaunch talks on Iran’s nuclear program with a 60-day deadline for a final accord. But it already faces threats, chiefly from Lebanon, with the fighting there leading to a delay in the start of talks planned for Friday in Switzerland.
Hours after officials told news organisations about the truce, Israeli artillery fire could still be heard from northern Israel along the Lebanese border, and a large explosion was seen erupting inside Lebanon, according to an AP journalist in northern Israel.
Word of the attempt to halt the fighting came from two regional officials and a US official. It was mediated by Qatar, the US and Iran, the regional officials said.
A Hezbollah official said an agreement to stop fighting could be announced soon, but he stopped short of confirming it was in place.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office did not immediately comment. However, Netanyahu posted Friday on X that, on his orders, the army had “struck powerfully” 150 Hezbollah targets, killing dozens of militants.
Military spokesman Brigadier General Effie Defrin said the military has not received different instructions from the government. He said Israeli forces were operating in a “forward defence zone” and will continue doing so.
Hezbollah and Israel had decreased their attacks after Iran and the US reached a deal to stop the war on “all fronts”, including Lebanon.
Iranian officials did not travel as planned to Switzerland, insisting that the fighting in Lebanon must stop before the talks can take place, according to the two regional officials, an Iranian official and a fourth person familiar with the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive conversations behind the scenes. US Vice President JD Vance also postponed his trip.
The interim deal has halted hostilities in Iran and the Gulf and reopened the Strait of Hormuz.
But future talks are supposed to bring about a permanent end to the conflict, including addressing how to restrict Iran’s nuclear program — the core issue over which Israel and the US went to war on February 28.
On Friday, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said consultations through mediators were ongoing regarding the next phase of negotiations to draft a final agreement.
Because the initial deal was signed digitally earlier this week, the talks in Switzerland were not urgent, and plans were under way to hold a meeting in the coming days, he said.
The Israeli military said four soldiers were killed in an attack on a tank in a village near the southern Lebanese city of Nabatiyeh. An explosive drone attack wounded another five, it added.
Israel then launched multiple strikes against “Hezbollah infrastructure sites” in Nabatiyeh and other areas, according to a military statement, which accused the militant group of “blatant ceasefire violations”.
Later, the military said it also struck targets in the Bekaa Valley in eastern Lebanon.
“Israel will not tolerate attacks on our soldiers or on our territory, and it will exact a very heavy price from Hezbollah for these attacks,” Netanyahu said.
Hezbollah acknowledged targeting Israeli tanks and said its attacks were in response to what it called Israel’s own violation of the ceasefire. It said the attacks came after Israeli forces attempted to reach the northern side of Ali al-Taher hilltop, a strategic point that overlooks Nabatiyeh and that Israeli troops have been trying to capture.
In southern Lebanon, many were forced to flee their villages.
“The situation is lawless, we couldn’t stay,” said Mustafa Zain, who was with his six daughters in a pickup truck.
Beyond the fighting, Israel’s occupation of large swaths of southern Lebanon is also a sticking point. Iran insists Israel must withdraw, but Netanyahu has said that forces would remain in a “security zone” of southern Lebanon as long as “Israel’s security needs require it”.
Israel’s actions have created a rift between Israel and the US, with Trump becoming increasingly critical of his close ally Netanyahu, who is also facing increasing criticism at home.
The discussions in Switzerland were expected to focus on Iran’s nuclear program. Tehran maintains it is peaceful, though it has highly enriched uranium that could be used to build multiple atomic bombs, should it choose to do so, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency.
Those talks are expected to be difficult. The 2015 nuclear deal, which Trump scrapped during his first term, took more than 18 months to negotiate.
The interim deal gives negotiators 60 days to come up with a nuclear agreement, but that can be extended. It outlines lucrative incentives if Iran does reach a new agreement, including the eventual lifting of all international sanctions and a $US300 billion ($425 billion) fund for postwar reconstruction.
Already Iran has won some concessions. The US lifted its blockade of Iran’s ports and the deal calls for Iran’s assets to be unfrozen — though it’s not clear how quickly.
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