Israeli air strikes in Lebanon have killed one person, the country’s health ministry said, a day after the two countries signed a deal aimed at paving the way to a lasting peace.

Lebanon’s state news agency said an Israeli drone hit the southern town of Nabatieh al-Fawqa, and later reported further strikes in the area, with at least two more people wounded.

The Israeli military said it carried out the drone strike on an individual who posed a threat ⁠to its forces, without providing details.

The leader of Lebanon’s Hezbollah militant group – which was not involved in negotiating Friday’s US-brokered agreement – rejected it and accused the Beirut government of undermining Lebanon’s sovereignty.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the agreement reached in Washington “historic” and “a blow to Iran and Hezbollah”.

Under the four-point framework, Israel will withdraw its forces from the South Litani area, with the Lebanese army taking exclusive control of the vacated territory.

But Israeli forces are permitted to remain in an expanded security area in southern Lebanon.

On Saturday Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem accused the Lebanese government of making damaging concessions.

“The framework agreement in Washington is humiliating, shameful, and a surrender of sovereignty. This agreement is null and void,” he said.

Qassem criticised provisions linking Israel’s withdrawal to the group’s disarmament, saying ‌they crossed “all red lines”.

He accused Lebanese authorities of committing a “grave blunder” which “may even lead to the annexation of these lands”, and vowed that Hezbollah would continue its armed resistance.

Later on Saturday Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said Israeli forces had been ordered to “prepare for an extended stay in the security zone” – referring to an area up to 10km (six miles) inside Lebanese territory.

Lebanon was pulled into the conflict on 2 March, when Iran-backed Hezbollah launched missiles into Israel in retaliation to an Israeli strike that killed Iran’s supreme leader.

Israel responded with an air campaign across Lebanon and a ground invasion in the south.

Israeli attacks in Lebanon have killed at least 4,192 people since the current round of hostilities began, according to the Lebanese health ministry. More than 11,600 have been injured, and more than 1.2 million people have been displaced, Lebanon says.

Israel say 36 of its soldiers and four civilians have been killed on both sides of the border.

A US-brokered ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon on 16 April failed to stop the fighting.

Israel and Lebanon agreed in June to renew their fragile ceasefire, and the US said it would help guide the creation of “pilot zones in which the Lebanese Armed Forces will take exclusive control of the territory to the exclusion of all non-state actors”.

At least 20 people have reportedly been killed by Israeli airstrikes on southern Lebanon, less than 24 hours after a new ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah was announced.

Local officials said 16 people had been killed in the Nabatieh district and seven in neighbouring Saida, with others injured, after Israeli warplanes, drones, and artillery targeted several areas.

A family of four – a father, a mother and their two children – was killed in the town of Barich in southern Lebanon, state media reported.

The Israeli military said it had struck “dozens” of Hezbollah targets after the group fired over 50 projectiles at Israeli forces in the region.

It also reported that an Israeli soldier was killed in battle in southern Lebanon on Saturday.

The US government has criticised Israel’s ongoing operations in Lebanon, which was drawn into the US-Iran war when Hezbollah launched rockets into Israel in retaliation for a strike that killed Iran’s supreme leader.

Washington also fears that the continuing tensions between Israel and Lebanon could undermine the US peace deal with Iran, which includes a commitment to end fighting on “all fronts” including Lebanon.

US envoy, Steve Witkoff, is reported to be heading to Switzerland for initial talks with Iran to help cement the agreement.

While it may have helped prevent a wider regional escalation for the time being, the deal leaves unresolved the central disputes at the heart of the conflict, including Israel’s military presence in southern Lebanon and the future of Hezbollah’s weapons.

Hezbollah in a statement has accused Israel of repeatedly violating the ceasefire, and said the group has the right to “defend their land and sovereignty” in the face of ongoing Israeli attacks.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it had “struck dozens of Hezbollah terrorist infrastructure sites and terrorists in southern Lebanon”.

The IDF said its strikes were in response to Hezbollah launching “more than 50 projectiles toward IDF soldiers in southern Lebanon”.

“These attacks constitute repeated and ongoing violations of the ceasefire agreement,” it added in the statement.

Israel and Hezbollah have agreed a ceasefire, a US official says, following intense Israeli air strikes in southern Lebanon that killed 47 people.

The latest agreement followed concerns that continued clashes, which also saw Hezbollah kill four Israeli soldiers in Lebanon, would undermine the deal to end the war between the US and Iran.

The Israeli military confirmed that a ceasefire was in effect, but later a spokesman said its forces would “continue to remove immediate threats”.

Hezbollah is yet to confirm the ceasefire but its secretary general, Sheikh Naim Qassem, said: “The project to eliminate Hezbollah has failed.”

Rescue officials in the city of Nabatieh told the BBC there had been at least 12 air strikes since the ceasefire began at 16:00 local time (13:00 GMT).

The deadly escalation is another sign that Donald Trump is not necessarily in control of the fate of his deal with Iran.

The memorandum of understanding declared a ceasefire in Lebanon as well as between the US and Iran. But that has not been the reality on the ground, which has led Tehran to accuse Trump of failing to rein in Israel.

Trump himself has given fuel to this argument in an unprecedented set of accusations against his ally, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, suggesting he has been senselessly killing civilians in his fight against Hezbollah.

The overnight flare-up in southern Lebanon poses more problems.

While the White House insists a ceasefire is in place, Israel’s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir responded to the deaths of Israeli soldiers by saying “Lebanon must burn… For every tear shed by an Israeli mother, 1,000 Lebanese mothers must weep”.

In response, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi accused Israel of wanting “permanent war” and insisted that any breach of the commitments set out in the memorandum of understanding “will be attributed to the US”.

Trump’s deal relies on each side reining in hardliners and showing restraint – and there are few signs of that.

Netanyahu has been under domestic pressure to continue military operations against Hezbollah, while the Iran-backed group has said it would continue its attacks as long as Israel’s invasion of southern Lebanon persists.

Following the latest ceasefire announcement, Israeli military spokesperson Effie Defrin said Israel would “continue to remove immediate threats, respond to Hezbollah’s violations, and do whatever is necessary to protect our civilians”.

Hezbollah’s secretary general, Sheikh Naim Qassem, on Friday declared: “The project to eliminate Hezbollah has failed, and the Israelis will withdraw from every last inch of our land.”

Clashes erupted when Hezbollah said it had ambushed an Israeli group in southern Lebanon, destroying three tanks with guided missiles, and targeting troops with rocket and artillery fire. A battalion commander was among the four troops killed.

Lebanon’s health ministry said that Israeli air strikes killed 47 people including women and children and wounded 97.

In the Nabatieh district, nine people were killed in Harouf, seven in Haboush, and six in al-Duweir, including a child, the health ministry said.

The country’s state news agency had earlier described the overnight bombardment across the Nabatieh district on Thursday as one of the most intense of the war.

News of a ceasefire has been met with scepticism by displaced Lebanese people, who are doubtful Israel will abide by a peace deal.

One man told Reuters news agency: “The agreement is good, and we all want an agreement, but the Israelis don’t abide by it.

“How many times have they made agreements? More than once, they don’t commit.”

The US State Department said direct talks between the Lebanese government and Israel would resume in Washington next week, aimed at securing a “lasting peace”.

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun meanwhile told US Secretary of State Marco Rubio that a “comprehensive ceasefire” under which “Israeli attacks on Lebanese territory” ended was needed for the Washington talks to progress, according to the Lebanese presidency.

Lebanon was drawn into the war between Israel, the US and Iran shortly after it began, with Hezbollah launching rockets into Israel in retaliation for a strike that killed Iran’s supreme leader.

Israel responded by launching a bombing campaign across Lebanon and occupying around 5% of the country’s territory in the south, with the aim of driving back Hezbollah fighters from its northern border.

More that 3,900 people have been killed, among them women and children, and more than 11,600 others wounded since the latest conflict began, according to Lebanon’s health ministry.

Around a million people remain displaced, while dozens of communities in the south have been completely destroyed.

At least 47 people have been killed in Lebanon following a series of Israeli air strikes, the country’s health ministry has said – while the Israeli military says four of its soldiers were also killed.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it had struck 80 targets linked to the Iran-backed armed group Hezbollah and killed “dozens” of its members.

The strikes come a day after the US and Iran signed a deal aimed at ending the conflict in the Middle East, including a permanent cessation of hostilities in Lebanon.

Both Israel and Hezbollah have carried out strikes against each other since the deal was announced, but on Friday afternoon a US official confirmed an immediate ceasefire between the two had been agreed.

Prior to the news of the ceasefire, Israel had said it had no intention of withdrawing its forces from Lebanon and had insisted that its conflict with Hezbollah was separate from the war on Iran.

But the IDF also confirmed that a ceasefire was in effect on Friday afternoon.

Prior to that, Lebanon’s health ministry said that as well as the 47 people killed in the country, 97 people had also been wounded by Israeli air strikes.

In the Nabatieh district, in south Lebanon, nine people were killed in Harouf, seven in Haboush, and six in al-Duweir, including a child, the health ministry said.

Lebanon’s state news agency had earlier described the overnight bombardment across the Nabatieh district on Thursday as one of the most intense of the war.

Hezbollah said it had ambushed an Israeli group in southern Lebanon, destroying three tanks with guided missiles, and targeting troops with rocket and artillery fire.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu extended his condolences to the four Israeli soldiers killed, writing on X on Friday that he had instructed the IDF to “strike Hezbollah with full force”.

“My directive is clear: Israel will not tolerate attacks on our soldiers or our territory, and it will exact a very heavy price from Hezbollah for these attacks,” he said.

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun earlier said that the “expansion of Israeli attacks constitute a dangerous escalation”, adding that it would “not deter efforts to achieve a comprehensive ceasefire as quickly as possible”.

Lebanon was drawn into the war between Israel, the US and Iran shortly after it began, with Hezbollah launching rockets into Israel in retaliation for a strike that killed Iran’s supreme leader.

Israel responded by launching a bombing campaign across Lebanon and occupying around 5% of the country’s territory in the south, with the aim of driving back Hezbollah fighters from its northern border.

More than 3,900 people have been killed, among them women and children, and more than 11,600 others wounded since the latest conflict began, according to Lebanon’s health ministry.

Around a million people remain displaced, while dozens of communities in the south have been completely destroyed.

Hezbollah had vowed to continue with its attacks as long as the invasion persists.

Since hostilities escalated between Israel and Hezbollah militants in southern Lebanon on 2 March, 247 children have been killed and 992 injured, an average of 12 children killed or maimed every day, according to the agency.

“For more than three months, children in Lebanon have lived through experiences no child should ever endure,” UNICEF country representative in Lebanon, Marcoluigi Corsi, said in a statement issued on Wednesday following the 15 June announcement that the United States and Iran had reached agreement on a Memorandum of Understanding.

“We hope that this ceasefire will be indeed a real ceasefire because since the declaration of the previous one, violence against children and the conflict hasn’t really stopped,” he told UN News.

Dozens of violations

Despite a reduction in the intensity of hostilities, UN peacekeepers in southern Lebanon, UNIFIL, continue to observe increased trajectories since Monday and extensive Israeli military activity, the UN Spokesperson said on Wednesday.

Their observations include Israel Defense Forces (IDF) high-density armoured movements, sustained logistical traffic and large-scale engineering and demolition works across the area alongside reports of 26 violations of Lebanese airspace by the Israeli military between midnight and 4pm local time and one air attack.

UNIFIL recorded 312 trajectories between midnight and 4pm on Wednesday, a total of 291 attributed to the IDF and 21 attributed to Hezbollah, compared with, 174 and 189 trajectories were reported over 24-hour periods on Monday and Tuesday, respectively.

“Outside UNIFIL’s area of operations, we are aware of reports of Israeli artillery shelling and airstrikes targeting multiple locations, including Nabatieh, Saida and Jezzine, as well as repeated drone overflights over Beirut and its southern suburbs,” the UN Spokesperson said. “At least one strike on a vehicle in Shukin reportedly resulted in four fatalities and several injuries.” 

Seaside security

UNIFIL reported a violation of Lebanon’s maritime space by two IDF vessels conducting a patrol roughly 600 metres off the shores of Naqoura in southern Lebanon, which is also the home base for UN peacekeepers, the UN Spokesperson said.

UNIFIL, and its naval “blue helmets”, announced on Wednesday ongoing efforts to assist the Lebanese navy in assuming greater responsibility for securing its territorial waters throughout 2026, based on an agreement signed last December.

“A long-term stability on land is intrinsically linked to security at sea,” said UNIFIL Force Commander Major General Diodato Abagnara.

‘Where is humanity?’

Widespread destruction has scarred large parts of the country, affecting homes, schools and essential services, including water, sanitation and hygiene systems, further compounding already severe humanitarian needs and dealing a devastating blow to children living through the bombings and violence. 

Mr. Corsi said a meeting with teenaged girl at a UNICEF-supported hospital remains “stuck in my mind and my heart”.

“Collateral damage” from an attack included the deaths of her father and three brothers, leaving her mother alive and the girl in a coma, he said, recalling the first two questions she asked him while she was recovering: Where is humanity? Where is a sense of justice?

“Those are tough questions coming from a 14-year-old child that you cannot answer,” he said. “No child should go through that nightmare.”

Listen to the full interview with Marcoluigi Corsi, UNICEF representative in Lebanon: 

Mass displacement, childhood disrupted

More than 770,000 children are experiencing heightened distress from repeated exposure to violence, loss and displacement, with many unable to return home because of ongoing fighting and the threat of unexploded ordnance, Mr. Corsi’s statement declared.

“Behind these staggering figures are lives cut short or forever changed, and families facing profound loss, trauma, and uncertainty,” he wrote. “Many have fled their homes multiple times, witnessed violence first-hand, lost loved ones and seen their schools, communities and sense of safety shattered.”

But, the numbers alone cannot convey the full scale of the crisis, he explained. 

“Beyond those killed and maimed, an entire generation of children has seen its childhood disrupted,” he stated. “Their sense of safety, one that every child needs to grow and thrive, remains profoundly undermined.”

“The scale of physical and psychological harm we are witnessing is unacceptable, and children continue to pay a terrible price for this conflict,” the UNICEF representative said, urgently calling for a sustained cessation of violence.

The true cost of this crisis will not only be measured in lives lost today, but in the opportunities missed tomorrow.

Give children a chance

Children must be protected from further harm and schools, hospitals, water systems and other civilian infrastructure urgently safeguarded, Mr. Corsi implored.

Moreover, humanitarian access must be ensured and international law must be respected.

“Most importantly, Lebanon’s children must be given the chance not only to survive this crisis, but to recover from it and reclaim the future that conflict has placed at risk.”

Stay tuned to UN News this Wednesday when the UN Secretary-General releases his latest report on children and armed conflict at 8pm New York time.

The agreement between Israel and Lebanon, reached after a fourth round of US-mediated talks in Washington, is contingent on the “evacuation of all [Hezbollah] operatives” from an area between the Israeli border and the Litani river, about 30km (19 miles) to the north, which is currently occupied by Israeli ground forces.

The ministry also said that two paramedics were killed and a third was seriously wounded when Israeli forces “directly targeted an ambulance” in the Chehour area, which is about 14km (9 miles) to the east. The ambulance belonged to the Risala Scouts Association, which is affiliated with the Amal movement, an ally of Hezbollah.