{"id":503166,"date":"2026-06-20T23:01:18","date_gmt":"2026-06-20T23:01:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/503166\/"},"modified":"2026-06-20T23:01:18","modified_gmt":"2026-06-20T23:01:18","slug":"israel-and-hezbollah-renew-ceasefire-after-flare-up-but-idf-to-stay-in-southern-lebanon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/503166\/","title":{"rendered":"Israel and Hezbollah renew ceasefire after flare-up, but IDF to stay in southern Lebanon"},"content":{"rendered":"

Israel and Hezbollah agreed to a ceasefire on Friday afternoon, a US official said, after another flare-up in southern Lebanon that saw four Israeli soldiers and dozens of Lebanese casualties.<\/p>\n

The renewed truce appeared as fragile as ever, as it didn\u2019t see Israel pull out of the large buffer zone it established in southern Lebanon \u2014 one that Hezbollah has used to justify continued attacks on troops stationed there as well as on northern Israeli towns across the border.<\/p>\n

The latest deal was brokered by the US and Qatar through talks with Israel and Iran respectively, a senior US official said in a statement to reporters. While Hezbollah sources confirmed the truce, Israel refrained from doing so publicly until Friday evening when its ambassador to the US declared that Jerusalem \u201cremains firmly committed to an immediate ceasefire.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAt 11:30 this morning, Israel halted all offensive operations; Hezbollah and Iranian claims to the contrary are bold lies,\u201d Yechiel Leiter wrote on X. \u201cIf Hezbollah honors the agreement and ceases its hostilities, they will be met with quiet.\u201d<\/p>\n

The US official who first announced the truce notably did not even try to hide the fact that mediators relied on Iran to secure the ceasefire \u2014 an admission of Tehran\u2019s ability to influence events in Lebanon.<\/p>\n

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The US and Israel had previously stressed the importance of detaching Iran from events in Lebanon, even if they privately recognized Tehran\u2019s control over its terror proxy.<\/p>\n

US President Donald Trump\u2019s administration has even brokered talks between Israel and the Lebanese government that have been used to announce previous ceasefires between Israel and Hezbollah, even if Beirut\u2019s ability to influence the Iran-backed militia was limited at best.<\/p>\n

\t\"\"<\/a>
\n\t\tYechiel Leiter (far L), Israeli Ambassador to the US, and Nada Hamadeh (far R), Lebanese ambassador to the US, attend a meeting hosted by the United States at the State Department in Washington, DC, on June 2, 2026. Leading the US delegation are Deputy National Security Adviser Mike Needham (C), State Department Chief of Staff Daniel Holler (L of Needham), and US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee (L of Holler). (Kent NISHIMURA \/ AFP)<\/p>\n

It was that process Israel declared it was committed to when Ambassador to Israel Yechiel Leiter said Thursday night that Jerusalem would hold its fire in Lebanon if Hezbollah did the same.<\/p>\n

But with Iran warning that Israel\u2019s operations in southern Lebanon amount to a violation of the memorandum of understanding inked with the US this week, the US and Qatar apparently decided to go straight to Tehran to broker Friday\u2019s agreement.<\/p>\n

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 Israel Defense Forces\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

Iran has reportedly been citing Israel\u2019s continued operations in Lebanon as its reason for holding back on sending a delegation to Switzerland for the first round of technical talks under the MOU, which a US official said was initially supposed to take place on Friday. A time has not yet been publicly announced.<\/p>\n

While Israel\u2019s continued operations have also sparked unprecedented public criticism from the Trump administration, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated on Friday that the IDF would remain in southern Lebanon, arguing that the buffer zone is necessary to protect its citizens in the north from Hezbollah attacks. Israel established a similar buffer zone decades ago in 1985, but pulled out in 2000 due to persistent IDF casualties of the kind it is now facing in south Lebanon on a near-daily basis.<\/p>\n

Earlier Friday, 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

\t\"\"<\/a>
\n\t\tA map published by the IDF, showing its forward defense line in southern Lebanon, June 18, 2026. (Israel Defense Forces)<\/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 those 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

Trump: I asked Israel to agree to new truce with Hezbollah<\/p>\n

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun condemned Israel\u2019s strikes, saying that\u00a0the \u201ckilling and destruction constitute a dangerous escalation.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt effectively targets all ongoing efforts to consolidate the ceasefire and end the war,\u201d a statement from the Lebanese presidency said, noting the \u201crecent developments\u201d between the US and Iran.<\/p>\n

Lebanese Hezbollah lawmaker Hassan Fadlallah told Reuters on Friday that Iran had informed the terror group that talks with the US could not continue without the implementation of a comprehensive ceasefire.<\/p>\n

\t\"\"<\/a>
\n\t\tSupporters of Iran-backed terror group Hezbollah wave flags and hold a portrait of slain leader Hassan Nasrallah during an anti-US and anti-Israel protest in Beirut\u2019s southern suburbs on June 10, 2026. (Anwar AMRO \/ AFP)<\/p>\n

He called on the Lebanese government to reject any direct negotiations with Israel as Israeli attacks on Lebanon continue. He said Washington bore responsibility for ensuring Israel halted its attacks and implemented the terms of the agreement.<\/p>\n

Hezbollah itself also issued a statement, vowing to defend Lebanon\u2019s territory and people against Israeli attacks.<\/p>\n

For his part, Trump told NBC News in a Friday phone interview that he spoke with \u201cIsrael\u201d and asked it to agree to a ceasefire with Hezbollah.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou just gotta calm down sometimes and use your head,\u201d Trump is quoted as saying on X by an NBC reporter, who added that the president declined to specify whether he spoke with Netanyahu directly.<\/p>\n

US intel: Netanyahu expected to undermine Iran deal<\/p>\n

The Washington Post separately reported on 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

Citing current and former US officials, the report said US intelligence agencies believe Israel seems determined to continue fighting against Hezbollah in Lebanon, even though the MOU between Iran and the administration calls for a cessation of military operations there.<\/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 Hezbollah.<\/p>\n

Later on Friday, Aoun held a phone call with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio during which he reiterated that continued Israeli operations in his country were undermining the US-led negotiations between Jerusalem and Beirut, according to the Lebanese readout.<\/p>\n

\t\"\"<\/a>
\n\t\tAn IDF military vehicle moves past destroyed buildings in southern Lebanon as seen from northern Israel, June 19, 2026. (AP Photo\/Leo Correa)<\/p>\n

Rubio, in turn, reaffirmed US support for Lebanon\u2019s \u201cefforts to create a fully sovereign Lebanese state that is at peace with all its neighbors,\u201d according to the State Department readout.<\/p>\n

Rubio also \u201ccommended President Aoun\u2019s courage in pursuing a historic opportunity for Lebanese sovereignty and recovery\u201d and asserted that Lebanon\u2019s talks with Israel represent the only path to Beirut\u2019s recovery.<\/p>\n

The State Department readout revealed that the next round of US-brokered Israel-Lebanon talks will take place from Tuesday to Thursday this coming week in Washington.<\/p>\n

Netanyahu enlists Dermer in bid to assuage hawkish ministers<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Netanyahu faced pressure from his own government to respond even more harshly, with far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir declaring that \u201call of Lebanon must burn\u201d after Israel\u2019s military announced the deaths of four soldiers from the Hezbollah attack.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith all due respect to the Americans, Israel must make it clear to the entire world that the blood of our sons and the security of our citizens are not up for bargaining. All of Lebanon must burn,\u201d Ben Gvir said in a statement.<\/p>\n

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi posted a screenshot of Ben Gvir\u2019s remarks, tagged Trump and US Vice President JD Vance and accused Israel of wanting \u201cpermanent war.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\"\"<\/a>
\n\t\tSmoke rises to the sky following an Israeli military strike in southern Lebanon as seen from northern Israel, June 19, 2026. (AP Photo\/Leo Correa)<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is not a rant by a random genocidal lunatic. It\u2019s a public post by the national security minister of the Israeli regime. The genocidal death cult headquartered in Tel Aviv is a threat to all of humanity. It threatens all humans. Its only interest is permanent war,\u201d Araghchi wrote on X.<\/p>\n

British Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper denounced Ben Gvir\u2019s statement as well, calling on Israel and Hezbollah \u201cto comply with the agreed ceasefire, and ensure that all civilians are protected.\u201d<\/p>\n

In an attempt to neutralize the domestic pressure,\u00a0Netanyahu 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 Lebanon\u2019s Hezbollah, Channel 12 news reported on Friday.<\/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, is quoted as saying. \u201cThe situation isn\u2019t easy. We cannot make it worse. Trump can\u2019t perceive Israel as being responsible for the efforts to reach a final deal with Iran failing.\u201d<\/p>\n

The network also cites an unnamed minister lashing out at the US president, referring to him as \u201cthe ginger\u201d while calling for tougher action after\u00a0four soldiers were killed\u00a0in 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 the unnamed minister is quoted as having said.<\/p>\n

Hezbollah, which has kept up incessant drone and rocket attacks on Israel\u2019s north, dragged Lebanon into the regional war with Iran in early March by firing rockets at Israel for the first time since the November 2024 Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire deal.<\/p>\n

Israel responded with massive airstrikes and a full-scale invasion in Lebanon, subsequently establishing a buffer zone that currently runs up to 10 kilometers (6 miles) deep from the border into Lebanese territory.<\/p>\n

Hezbollah\u2019s renewed attacks on Israel came in response to the killing of Iran\u2019s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei at the start of the US-Israeli bombing campaign against Iran on February 28. The fighting in Iran entered a truce on April 8 even as Israel and Hezbollah continued exchanging fire.<\/p>\n

Under the November 2024 Israel-Lebanon deal, which ended over a year of earlier hostilities initiated by Hezbollah, the Lebanese army was supposed to disarm the terror group. Beirut has so far failed to do so.<\/p>\n

In the US-brokered Israeli-Lebanese talks that began in April, the sides affirmed their support for the 2024 agreement. Hezbollah, meanwhile, has slammed the Lebanese government for negotiating directly with Israel.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Israel and Hezbollah agreed to a ceasefire on Friday afternoon, a US official said, after another flare-up in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":503167,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[190560,229277,49,85,46,2723,43],"class_list":["post-503166","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-israel","tag-2026-israel-hezbollah-conflict","tag-2026-us-iran-memorandum-of-understanding","tag-benjamin-netanyahu","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-israel-katz","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/503166","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=503166"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/503166\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/503167"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=503166"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=503166"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=503166"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}