ZURICH/DUBAI/WASHINGTON – Israeli strikes killed at least 10 people in Lebanon on June 20, hours after a truce took effect, Israel saying it was reacting to attacks from Hezbollah and the Iran-backed group saying it would not allow Israel “freedom of movement” in Lebanon.
A halt to the fighting in Lebanon is a condition for starting 60 days of US-Iranian talks to resolve disputes over Iran’s nuclear programme and other thorny issues key to forging a more durable deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and stabilise global oil supplies.
It was not clear when those talks might get under way.
The June 17 interim US-Iran deal requires both countries and their allies to stop military operations on all fronts, including in Lebanon.
But Israel, left out of the talks, says it is not party to the deal, and will keep its forces in the 5 per cent or so of Lebanese territory that it currently occupies.
A US official had said the truce took effect at 4pm (9pm Singapore time) on June 19, and Israeli and Hezbollah sources confirmed the agreement to Reuters.
Lebanon’s state news agency NNA said Israeli warplanes and drones had on June 20 struck locations across southern Lebanon and the Bekaa Valley, both strongholds of Hezbollah.
An Israeli military official said Hezbollah had fired more than 50 projectiles at Israeli forces in southern Lebanon overnight, and that Israel had attacked what it described as Hezbollah targets in response.
Hezbollah did not immediately claim responsibility.
But a senior Hezbollah official told Reuters the group would not allow Israeli forces freedom of movement in Lebanese territory, nor accept a return to the situation that existed before March 2.
Lebanon was sucked into the regional war when Hezbollah attacked Israel after it and its ally, the United States, began their war on Iran and Israel responded with an offensive against Hezbollah that included invading south Lebanon.
One of the deadliest Israeli strikes on June 20 hit a three-storey residential building in the town of Barish in the Tyre district, killing a father, a mother and their two children, a town official said.
The Lebanese army said an Israeli strike had also killed a soldier on the Kfarrumman-Nabatieh road.
Israel’s Arabic-language military spokesperson said calm and stability could be achieved if Hezbollah ceased what she described as hostile activities and violations of agreements.
She said Israel’s presence in Lebanon was intended to remove threats and dismantle Hezbollah infrastructure, not to harm Lebanese civilians.
Lebanon’s health ministry says 3,912 people have been killed in Israeli attacks since March 2, including medics, women and children.
Israel says at least 32 Israeli soldiers and four civilians have been killed.
As the fighting raged, it was unclear if any substantive talks would get under way soon between the US and Iran to turn this week’s interim 14-point pact into a lasting deal to end the war that the US and Israel launched on Feb 28.
Mohsin Naqvi, interior minister of Pakistan, which has been mediating in the conflict, was in Tehran for talks with Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi, Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson said, according to Iran’s ISNA news agency.
US Vice-President J.D. Vance had this week cancelled plans to head to Switzerland for talks with Iran, which Bern says it is ready to facilitate, as tension between Israel and Hezbollah rose.
The White House would not confirm reports that US President Donald Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner still planned to meet Iranian officials in Switzerland.
On June 19, Swiss authorities met officials from Qatar, which has also been supporting the negotiations, at the mountain resort of Buergenstock, near Lucerne.
The Iran war has killed at least 8,000 people, mostly in Iran and Lebanon. It has pushed up energy prices, stoking inflation worldwide.
The interim deal foresees relief for Iran from economic sanctions, the unfreezing of assets worth tens of billions of dollars and immediate US waivers for its exports of oil.
It also provides for a US$300 billion (S$387.69 billion) reconstruction fund for Iran and other financial incentives.
Trump again defended the deal after criticism in Washington, including some from Republican allies in Congress who question whether he conceded too much to end a war unpopular with most Americans ahead of midterm elections in November.
“The War has diminished Iran!” Trump wrote on social media on June 19, adding, “We didn’t meet out of desperation, Iran did. They are FINISHED! We’ll play out the 60 days. They get no money, not 10 cents!” REUTERS
