A new wave of Israeli airstrikes hit targets in southern Lebanon, killing at least four civilians and seriously threatening a peace deal reached in late June. The attack comes at a critical moment marked by in-person disputes between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the administration of US President Donald Trump over the scope of military action in the region.
Deadly strike in Nabatieh
The main focus of the new escalation has become the town of Nabatieh al-Fawqa in southern Lebanon. According to official data from Lebanese media and security services:
Target: An Israeli drone fired a guided missile directly at a passing civilian car. Victims: On impact are four people died. Among them are the headmistress of the local school "Yousef Shamoun", her mother, a foreign domestic helper and a Syrian worker. They were returning from inspecting their family home in the area. Follow-up attacks: Hours later, Israeli forces subjected a number of border areas and villages around the city of Tyre to artillery fire and new air strikes.
Violation of the June Agreement
These actions constitute a direct violation of the fragile trilateral framework ceasefire agreement concluded on June 26 under the auspices and mediation of the United States. The agreement was intended to end heavy clashes between Israel and the Hezbollah group, transferring responsibility for security in southern Lebanon to the official Lebanese army. Instead of stabilization, however, the region faces a renewal of full-scale conflict.
Netanyahu vs. Trump: “No Limits“
A serious diplomatic rift is developing alongside the military action. The reason for this was media reports that US President Donald Trump had set “red lines“ and asked Israel to stop its strikes on Lebanon so as not to jeopardize broader negotiations with Iran.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu categorically rejected these claims during a cabinet meeting on Sunday, calling them “fake news” and “legends“.
"I heard in the media that President Trump asked us not to take action against the terrorist tunnels in Lebanon. This is a fabrication. He never told me anything like that. We are acting entirely according to our own security considerations," Netanyahu said.
In addition, Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz emphasized that the Israeli army retains “full freedom of action“ in southern Lebanon. The Prime Minister explicitly declared to Washington that Israeli troops would not withdraw from the occupied border areas until Hezbollah was completely disarmed.
This led to a clear divergence from Trump's peace plan, as Tel Aviv also tied the future reconstruction of the Gaza Strip to its prior demilitarization.