The deal mandates a ceasefire in Lebanon, and Iran has demanded that Israel withdraw, but Israel has vowed to keep its troops in a buffer zone in the country\u2019s south to protect border towns from Hezbollah rocket and drone fire. Israel has insisted that it is not beholden to the MOU and that it will not pull its troops out of southern Lebanon, a stance Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated on Friday, arguing that the buffer zone is necessary to protect citizens in the north from Hezbollah attacks.<\/p>\n
Israel and Hezbollah agreed to a ceasefire on Friday afternoon, after another flare-up in southern Lebanon. But the renewed truce appeared as fragile as ever.<\/p>\n
Israeli Ambassador to the US Yechiel Leiter wrote on X. \u201cIf Hezbollah honors the agreement and ceases its hostilities, they will be met with quiet.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t It\u2019s unclear if or for how long Iran will accept the deal, given that the issue wasn\u2019t just Israel\u2019s attacks on Hezbollah but also the IDF\u2019s presence in southern Lebanon that Tehran has argued violates the MOU, which stipulates \u201can immediate and permanent termination of military operations on all fronts, including in Lebanon.\u201d<\/p>\n Trump says he\u2019s prepared to resume bombing Iran if the talks don\u2019t advance, but in the same breath admits that he\u2019d rather not restart the war because that would lead Tehran to again close the Strait of Hormuz.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have an agreement\u2026 and it\u2019s 60 days. They have to make a deal, otherwise we will do things that won\u2019t make them happy,\u201d Trump said Friday.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t think it\u2019s going to get to that. I think it\u2019s going to be very good. Remember, if we do [bomb Iran], then all of a sudden you\u2019re not going to have the oil flowing out of the strait too quickly,\u201d Trump continued. \u201cBecause people that own billion dollar ships don\u2019t love missiles flying over them, don\u2019t love mines all over the water.\u201d<\/p>\n The Washington Post reported<\/a> Friday that a US intelligence analysis has warned that Netanyahu is expected to take actions in Lebanon that will undermine the Trump administration\u2019s push for a lasting peace with Iran.<\/p>\n \t Citing current and former US officials, the report said US intelligence agencies assess that Israel seems determined to continue fighting Hezbollah in Lebanon, while the deal signed this between Iran and the administration calls for a cessation of military operations.<\/p>\n The analysis reportedly states that ahead of Knesset elections in the fall, Netanyahu\u2019s political fate depends on him maintaining Israeli forces in southern Lebanon, and that he wants to ramp up Israeli attacks on Iran-backed Hezbollah.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, an administration official told the Post anonymous that Israel\u2019s insistence on maintaining troops in Lebanon \u201cis a recipe for disaster.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWithout a full Israeli withdrawal, the likelihood of resumed hostilities between the [Israeli military] and Hezbollah is all but certain,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n At the same time, Channel 12 reported that Netanyahu has invited his close confidante and former top aide, Ron Dermer, to recent consultations in an effort to calm ministers pushing for intensive military action against Hezbollah.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is a real emergency,\u201d Dermer, a former Israeli ambassador to the US who has worked to forge close ties between Netanyahu and the Trump administration, was quoted as saying. \u201cThe situation isn\u2019t easy; we cannot make it worse. Trump can\u2019t perceive Israel as being responsible for efforts to reach a final deal with Iran failing.\u201d<\/p>\n \t The network also cited an unnamed minister lashing out at the US president, referring to him as \u201cthe ginger\u201d while calling for tougher action after four soldiers were killed<\/a> in southern Lebanon, saying that if Israel doesn\u2019t act now, \u201cwe won\u2019t succeed [in doing so] later.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThis is the time to formulate the rules of the game, before they are ultimately formulated for us.\u201d<\/p>\n Channel 12 also reported that some officials in the Trump administration are working to establish informal channels of communication with Israel\u2019s opposition, including the leading contenders to replace Netanyahu in the upcoming election, former prime minister Naftali Bennett and former IDF chief Gadi Eisenkot.<\/p>\n The report said the figures, including some with close ties to the Israeli leader, have increasingly been sending out feelers to build relations. it cited growing concern over hard-right members of the Netanyahu government seen as extremists; frustration with the inability to advance various diplomatic agendas with the current government, which has been stained internationally due to its conduct in the war in Gaza; and an acknowledgment that Netanyahu could very well lose the coming election, which is to take place in October at the latest.<\/p>\n Earlier Friday, prior to the new truce, the IDF announced that four of its soldiers had been killed overnight after a suspected drone or anti-tank missile struck their tank in the southern Lebanese village of Kfar Tebnit.<\/p>\n Israel responded by carrying out 150 strikes on what it said were Hezbollah targets across southern Lebanon, with Netanyahu declaring in a statement that the IDF had killed dozens of Hezbollah terrorists in those strikes.<\/p>\n The Lebanese health ministry later said that the Israeli airstrikes killed at least 47 people and wounded 97 others.<\/p>\n The dead included at least seven women and two children, it said, though the figures did not otherwise differentiate between civilians and combatants.<\/p>\n Emanuel Fabian contributed to this report.<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t The war with Iran has been draining for all of us in Israel. But when I heard about a high casualty incident \u2013 ballistic missile impacts in Arad and Dimona that left nearly 200 people wounded \u2013 I drank a cup of coffee, packed a bag, and headed south.<\/p>\n There, I spoke with Shilgit, the head of an after-school program for underprivileged youth. Standing outside her destroyed center, Shilgit said it was a miracle that no children were hurt and spoke about the community coming together in the hours since.<\/p>\n As a Times of Israel reporter, I\u2019m committed to telling stories of resilience like Shilgit\u2019s. But my colleagues and I can’t do this alone. If you value work like this, please consider joining our reader support group, The Times of Israel Community. Your financial support is essential to keep real human reporting like this going.<\/p>\n \u2014 Stav Levaton, military reporter<\/p>\n \t\t\t
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\n\t\tThis picture taken from a position in the Upper Galilee in northern Israel, near the Israel-Lebanon border shows Israeli Merkava tanks driving along a road past destroyed buildings in southern Lebanon on June 17, 2026. (JACK GUEZ \/ AFP)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/F260615OFPOOL13-640x400.jpg\")
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\n\t\tPrime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu holds a press conference at the Prime Minister\u2019s Office in Jerusalem, June 15, 2026. (Olivier Fitoussi\/POOL)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/F250428CG528-640x400.jpg\")
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\n\t\tFILE: Then-strategic affairs minister Ron Dermer speaks at the Jewish News Syndicate conference in Jerusalem, on April 28, 2025. (Chaim Goldberg\/Flash90)<\/p>\n
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