At least 32 people have been killed in a deadly Israeli air and drone strike in Lebanon, despite a ceasefire, in a bloody conflict that has thrown sensitive diplomatic talks between the United States and Iran aimed at restoring peace in the Middle East into deep crisis.
The next round of formal meetings between the United States and Iran are scheduled to be held on Sunday at the Bürgenstock resort in Switzerland to move forward with the memorandum of understanding signed this week, according to Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry.
In addition to delegations from both countries, representatives from the mediating countries Pakistan and Qatar will also participate in this meeting.
However, despite a renewed ceasefire last Friday, the situation has been complicated by continued Israeli attacks in southern Lebanon. Iran has made it clear that a permanent ceasefire in Lebanon is essential to this diplomatic process. If the conflict does not end, peace talks between the United States and Iran could collapse completely.
According to the Lebanese Civil Defense Agency, 16 people were killed and 12 wounded in an Israeli attack in the southern Nabatieh district on Saturday. The Lebanese National News Agency reported that a Lebanese soldier was killed in another Israeli attack in the village of Kafr Reman.
Terrible attacks were also reported in Tyre, Lebanon. An Israeli strike in the village of Barish there killed four members of the same family – a father, mother and their two children. In addition, an airstrike on a house in the Sohmor area of ​​the western Bekaa region killed four people and wounded one.
According to Lebanon’s Health Emergency Operations Center, at least 7 people were killed and 13 injured in an Israeli attack in Kanari, Sidon district.
Lebanon’s Ministry of Public Health said 83 people were killed and 141 injured in Israeli strikes in the country since the new ceasefire was announced last Friday. The majority of the casualties were from southern and eastern Lebanon.
Analysts say the success of the meeting, scheduled to take place today at the Bürgenstock resort in Switzerland, is now facing major challenges due to Israel’s series of attacks in Lebanon.
Fragile ceasefire
The stability of the newly declared ceasefire in Lebanon is now under severe threat. Israeli forces have carried out at least 100 air and drone strikes in southern Lebanon since midnight on Saturday.
Al Jazeera correspondents from Beirut and Tyre reported that these attacks have caused widespread civilian casualties, bringing the entire peace process to the brink of collapse.
Lebanon’s Health Ministry said that at least 4,057 people have been killed and 12,121 injured in the Israeli offensive that began on March 2.
A Lebanese army member riding a motorbike was killed in an Israeli attack yesterday. The Lebanese army, which is usually aloof from politics and conflict, reacted strongly to the incident. In a statement, it said, “Israel continues its relentless attacks to thwart all diplomatic efforts to restore stability in Lebanon.”
Meanwhile, the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah said it had launched a counter-attack targeting Israeli troops advancing towards the Nabatieh region. On the other hand, the Israeli military claimed that Hezbollah violated the ceasefire by firing more than 50 rockets at its troops. Another Israeli soldier was killed in the clashes.
Analysts say the future of the ongoing peace talks depends entirely on the situation in Lebanon, as the first paragraph of the memorandum of understanding signed between Washington and Tehran this week clearly states that the main and integral part of the implementation of the ceasefire is the cessation of fighting in Lebanon.
The dire situation in Lebanon has become the biggest obstacle to preserving the deal, just ahead of the US and Iranian representatives meeting in Bürgenstock, Switzerland, on Sunday.
Possible meeting between Israel and Lebanon
A new round of bilateral talks between Lebanon and Israel will be held in Washington, D.C., on June 23 and 25, with the aim of ending the long-running bloody conflict and restoring sustainable peace in the Middle East. The U.S. State Department has confirmed this information.
However, Lebanon’s main armed forces have kept Hezbollah out of the negotiation process and the group’s stubborn stance has raised serious doubts about the success of the meeting from the beginning.
Israel and Lebanon signed a ceasefire agreement in November 2024. Since then, the Lebanese government has been trying to disarm Hezbollah and withdraw Israeli troops from southern Lebanon under a US-backed framework.
A draft agreement prepared earlier this month called for Hezbollah to withdraw north of the Litani River in southern Lebanon, but there was no clear direction for a complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from there.
In this situation, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun on Friday. The US State Department said that Rubio made it clear to the Lebanese president that “bilateral negotiations with Israel are the only effective way to rebuild the country, restore its economy, and end the cycle of recurring violence.”
Amid the excitement of the Washington meeting, Hezbollah’s representative in the Lebanese parliament, Ali Fayyad, issued a stark warning yesterday. In an interview with the Iranian news agency Tasnim News, he made it clear that no ceasefire or agreement is possible while Israeli troops are present on Lebanese soil.
Ali Fayyad said, “Hezbollah’s position is very clear and inflexible, with no room for negotiation or retreat. Talking about a ceasefire is meaningless when the enemy is continuously attacking and killing us. Our right to self-defense is established and it is not a matter of discussion.”
