Hezbollah launched several drones at Israeli soldiers in south Lebanon on Tuesday, while Israel issued new displacement orders for south Lebanon and carried out airstrikes, as the fraying ceasefire failed to stop fighting between the two sides.
Hezbollah claimed Tuesday’s attack injured several Israeli soldiers, but no confirmation was given from the Israeli military, apart from a statement saying interceptor missiles had been fired at incoming Hezbollah drones.
An Israeli soldier was killed and six others wounded in a Hezbollah drone attack on Sunday. Hezbollah’s use of small, fibre-optic-guided drones has managed to evade Israeli aerial defences, as the wired element of the aircraft limits the radio signals that radars detect. The drones have a range of up to 9 miles (15km) and the armed group has used them to attack Israeli soldiers in south Lebanon almost daily since the ceasefire was established on 17 April.
Israel also carried out a series of airstrikes on Lebanon on Tuesday, in addition to ordering the residents of 16 villages in south Lebanon to flee northwards. Israeli airstrikes killed 18 people and wounded 88 more in Lebanon over the weekend, according to the Lebanese ministry of health.
At least 2,534 people have been killed and 7,863 wounded by Israeli airstrikes in Lebanon since the beginning of fighting between Hezbollah and Israel on 2 March. Hezbollah rocket fire has killed two civilians in Israel in the same time period.
The back-and-forth fire came as talks between the US and Iran ground to a halt, with US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, saying any permanent truce needs to include a deal on Iran’s nuclear programme. The statement came after Tehran offered to reopen the strait of Hormuz – a chokepoint for a fifth of global oil supply – in return for the US lifting its blockade of the strait. US president, Donald Trump, said Iran was in a “state of collapse” due to the blockade in a post on Truth Social on Tuesday.
As talks with Iran faltered, the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said drones and Hezbollah’s rockets continue to pose a threat to northern Israel and promised further strikes against what he said was Hezbollah infrastructure.
“They have about 10% of the missiles they had at the start of the war. But these still trouble the residents of the north … We are carrying out strikes now, both within the security zone and north of it,” Netanyahu said in a statement on Monday night.
Israeli media reported that Netanyahu told Trump Israel needed to respond to Hezbollah’s attacks to restrain the armed group. In response the US asked Israel to ensure their response was “calculated and limited”.
The ceasefire in Lebanon was reached after the US requested Israel come to the negotiating table with the Lebanese government, apparently in a bid to ensure negotiations with Iran were not disrupted by the Israeli invasion of Lebanon. Since the ceasefire was established, Israel and Lebanon have had two ambassador-level meetings, one of which was held in the Oval Office in Trump’s presence.
Trump has said that he is looking to make a lasting peace between the two countries, which do not have diplomatic relations and have fought on-and-off wars since Israel’s invasion of south Lebanon in 1978.
Fighting has continued in Lebanon despite a nominal ceasefire, with Israeli bombing and Hezbollah attacks continuing since the first day of the deal to stop hostilities was signed. Israel also established a “yellow line” in south Lebanon where Israeli troops are active, comprising at least 55 villages. They have continued to demolish homes there.
Under the text of the ceasefire deal, Israel is allowed to strike Lebanon in self-defence, a repeat of the 2024 ceasefire during which Israel struck Lebanon more than 15,000 times. Hezbollah is actively striking Israeli troops in Lebanon.
While the Lebanese government negotiates in Washington, it has little to no ability to control the actions of Hezbollah. The government has come under fierce criticism from Hezbollah for negotiating directly with Israel, with the Hezbollah head, Naim Qassem, on Monday calling direct talks a “grave sin” which would plunge the country into “instability”.
“These direct negotiations and their outcomes are as if they do not exist for us, and they do not concern us in the slightest,” Qassem said, adding that the group will not give up its arms – a key demand from Israel and the Lebanese government. Lebanon’s president Joseph Aoun responded hours later, saying the “real betrayal is committed by those who drag their country into war to serve foreign interests”.
Rubio, in an interview on Monday, suggested the US could assist Lebanon in creating specialised units in the Lebanese army which would confront Hezbollah directly. The prospect of such a scenario prompted concern in Lebanon, which has a history of inter-communal warfare and civil war. The Lebanese government has been cautious in confronting Hezbollah head-on for fear of sparking civil unrest.
Analysts have said that normalisation between Lebanon and Israel, which Trump is seeking to add to his list of international achievements, is unlikely given the antipathy in Lebanon towards Israel. Instead, a more realistic scenario would be an armistice agreement.
Israeli officials have continued to apply pressure, with the Israeli defence minister, Israel Katz, accusing the Lebanese government of “taking cover” under Hezbollah and not moving forcefully enough against the group.