Israel will persist with its ground operations in southern Lebanon despite a newly agreed ceasefire. The Israeli Defense Forces will not withdraw and will continue targeting terrorist infrastructure.
Key points
Israel continues ground operations in southern Lebanon
Ceasefire agreed between Israel and Lebanon
IDF will not withdraw from southern Lebanon
Focus on dismantling terrorist infrastructure
Hundreds of thousands displaced from their homes
Mentioned in this story
Israel Defense ForcesLebanonIsrael Katz
From
Hello and welcome to the Guardian’s continuing live coverage of the crisis in the Middle East.
The Israeli defence minister, Israel Katz, said the military will continue its ground operations in southern Lebanon, hours after Israel and Lebanon agreed to implement a US-backed ceasefire to end hostilities.
Katz said the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) will not withdraw from southern Lebanon, including Beaufort Castle, and the hundreds of thousands of people forced to flee their homes will not be able to return.
“The IDF will, at this stage, continue its fire and ground operations, remain in the security zone in Lebanon up to the yellow line – including in the Beaufort area – and without the return of the population, while continuing to dismantle terrorist infrastructure on the ground,” he said in a statement.
He added that the IDF retained the “freedom of action, with American backing, to strike in Beirut in response to fire on Israeli communities and territory”.
The IDF also issued a warning this morning saying fighting will continue in southern Lebanon as it urged people to “refrain from heading south of the Zahrani River”.
Lebanon’s official National News Agency reported several people were wounded in Israeli strikes in the southern Tyre and Nabatieh areas, which have seen repeated attacks in recent weeks.
It came just a day after Israel’s and Lebanon’s governments agreed to implement a conditional ceasefire following a fourth round of talks in Washington. The truce is contingent on a complete cessation of fire from the Hezbollah militia and would reportedly create a number of “pilot” security zones in Lebanon from which the Iran-aligned group’s fighters would be banned.
State department chief of staff Daniel Holler talks at a table with envoys from the US, Israel and Lebanon
Q&A
Why is Israel continuing ground operations in southern Lebanon despite a ceasefire?
Israel is continuing its ground operations to dismantle terrorist infrastructure, as stated by the Israeli defense minister.
What areas in southern Lebanon are affected by Israel's military operations?
The Israeli Defense Forces are focusing on the Beaufort Castle area and the security zone up to the yellow line in southern Lebanon.
What does the US-backed ceasefire entail for Israel and Lebanon?
The ceasefire aims to end hostilities between Israel and Lebanon, but Israel has indicated it will not withdraw its forces from southern Lebanon.
How many people have been displaced due to the conflict in southern Lebanon?
Hundreds of thousands of people have been forced to flee their homes due to the ongoing conflict in southern Lebanon.
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From left: Israel’s ambassador to the US, Yechiel Leiter; the state department chief of staff, Daniel Holler; the US ambassador to Lebanon, Michel Issa; and the Lebanese ambassador to the US, Nada Hamadeh, at the talks in Washington. Photograph: Oliver Contreras/AFP/Getty Images
The truce involves “the evacuation of all Hezbollah operatives” from areas south of the Litani River, according to a joint US-Israel-Lebanon statement released by the US state department.
It was not immediately clear how the Lebanon security zones would be established but the agreement calls for the Lebanese army to take full control of those areas.
Hezbollah has yet to comment on the ceasefire. The group is not taking part in the talks and firmly opposes them, saying it won’t abide by agreements that may result. A Hezbollah official told Agence France-Presse on Tuesday the group would “not accept a partial ceasefire”.
In other developments:
Oil prices jumped nearly 2% after the attacks on Kuwait tested the fragile truce. Flights at its international airport were suspended after the Iranian drone and missile attack damaged airport facilities and diplomatic missions, killing one person and injuring more than 60, Kuwaiti authorities and state media said. Kuwait Airways and Jazeera Airways later resumed flights, authorities said.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said it did not fire at Kuwait’s airport and blamed the destruction on US interceptor missiles that failed to hit their targets, according to Iranian state media. The US military said that was not accurate and that Iranian drones targeted the airport deliberately.
Earlier, Iranian media said the Revolutionary Guard attacked the US Fifth Fleet headquarters in Bahrain and a US airbase, as well as a vessel. US Central Command denied its bases had been hit, also saying it had carried out new “defensive strikes” in southern Iran.
Iranian negotiations with the US had not been cut off but no progress had been made, Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araqchi told Lebanese broadcaster Al Mayadeen on Wednesday.
Donald Trump suggested earlier there could be progress for a deal as soon as this weekend. “I hear the negotiation itself is going very well actually,” he said at the White House. “If it happens, it could happen over the weekend.” He told a podcast that Iranian supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei was involved in the negotiations.
Oil prices dropped on news of the Israel-Lebanon truce, with both main crude contracts down more than 1% after jumping back towards $100 this week.
Israel Katz said the US-brokered ceasefire agreement between Israel and Lebanon was a “great achievement in Lebanon, on the ground and also on the diplomatic level”.
“We promised security to the residents of the north and we delivered,” the Israeli defence minister said in a statement, according to the Times of Israel.
Israel Katz in Jerusalem in November 2024.
Israel Katz in Jerusalem in November 2024. Photograph: Ronen Zvulun/Reuters
“The declaration includes an unequivocal statement on the disarmament of Hezbollah, the removal of Hezbollah terrorists from the area south of the Litani River, the continued presence of the IDF in the security area, and freedom of action for Israel.”
My colleague William Christou has more on the ceasefire here:
Hello and welcome to the Guardian’s continuing live coverage of the crisis in the Middle East.
The Israeli defence minister, Israel Katz, said the military will continue its ground operations in southern Lebanon, hours after Israel and Lebanon agreed to implement a US-backed ceasefire to end hostilities.
Katz said the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) will not withdraw from southern Lebanon, including Beaufort Castle, and the hundreds of thousands of people forced to flee their homes will not be able to return.
“The IDF will, at this stage, continue its fire and ground operations, remain in the security zone in Lebanon up to the yellow line – including in the Beaufort area – and without the return of the population, while continuing to dismantle terrorist infrastructure on the ground,” he said in a statement.
He added that the IDF retained the “freedom of action, with American backing, to strike in Beirut in response to fire on Israeli communities and territory”.
The IDF also issued a warning this morning saying fighting will continue in southern Lebanon as it urged people to “refrain from heading south of the Zahrani River”.
Lebanon’s official National News Agency reported several people were wounded in Israeli strikes in the southern Tyre and Nabatieh areas, which have seen repeated attacks in recent weeks.
It came just a day after Israel’s and Lebanon’s governments agreed to implement a conditional ceasefire following a fourth round of talks in Washington. The truce is contingent on a complete cessation of fire from the Hezbollah militia and would reportedly create a number of “pilot” security zones in Lebanon from which the Iran-aligned group’s fighters would be banned.
State department chief of staff Daniel Holler talks at a table with envoys from the US, Israel and Lebanon
From left: Israel’s ambassador to the US, Yechiel Leiter; the state department chief of staff, Daniel Holler; the US ambassador to Lebanon, Michel Issa; and the Lebanese ambassador to the US, Nada Hamadeh, at the talks in Washington. Photograph: Oliver Contreras/AFP/Getty Images
The truce involves “the evacuation of all Hezbollah operatives” from areas south of the Litani River, according to a joint US-Israel-Lebanon statement released by the US state department.
It was not immediately clear how the Lebanon security zones would be established but the agreement calls for the Lebanese army to take full control of those areas.
Hezbollah has yet to comment on the ceasefire. The group is not taking part in the talks and firmly opposes them, saying it won’t abide by agreements that may result. A Hezbollah official told Agence France-Presse on Tuesday the group would “not accept a partial ceasefire”.
In other developments:
Oil prices jumped nearly 2% after the attacks on Kuwait tested the fragile truce. Flights at its international airport were suspended after the Iranian drone and missile attack damaged airport facilities and diplomatic missions, killing one person and injuring more than 60, Kuwaiti authorities and state media said. Kuwait Airways and Jazeera Airways later resumed flights, authorities said.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said it did not fire at Kuwait’s airport and blamed the destruction on US interceptor missiles that failed to hit their targets, according to Iranian state media. The US military said that was not accurate and that Iranian drones targeted the airport deliberately.
Earlier, Iranian media said the Revolutionary Guard attacked the US Fifth Fleet headquarters in Bahrain and a US airbase, as well as a vessel. US Central Command denied its bases had been hit, also saying it had carried out new “defensive strikes” in southern Iran.
Iranian negotiations with the US had not been cut off but no progress had been made, Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araqchi told Lebanese broadcaster Al Mayadeen on Wednesday.
Donald Trump suggested earlier there could be progress for a deal as soon as this weekend. “I hear the negotiation itself is going very well actually,” he said at the White House. “If it happens, it could happen over the weekend.” He told a podcast that Iranian supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei was involved in the negotiations.
Oil prices dropped on news of the Israel-Lebanon truce, with both main crude contracts down more than 1% after jumping back towards $100 this week.
