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Updated 4 June 2026 - US-mediated talks yield conditional truce and demilitarized zones in southern Lebanon.
Ceasefire and pilot zones announced
The United States announced on Wednesday that Israel and Lebanon have agreed to renew a fragile ceasefire and establish experimental security zones within Lebanon where Hezbollah fighters will be prohibited. The agreement, reached after a fourth round of US-brokered negotiations, requires a complete halt to attacks by the Iran-backed group Hezbollah as a precondition.
A joint statement from the three countries declared opposition to any effort-by states or non-state actors-to hold Lebanon's future hostage. The announcement followed Israeli airstrikes in southern Lebanon that killed at least nine people and Hezbollah rocket fire into northern Israel earlier the same day.
Conditions and next steps
The agreement hinges on the withdrawal of all Hezbollah operatives from a 30-kilometre strip between the Israeli border and the Litani River, an area currently occupied by Israeli ground forces. The US will assist in creating "pilot zones" where only the Lebanese Armed Forces will maintain control, excluding all non-state actors. No maps or operational details were released.
Delegates from both nations are scheduled to reconvene in Washington on 22 June to pursue a comprehensive accord. Hezbollah has not yet issued an official response but told the BBC it would comment later.
"This is a serious mistake that will allow Hezbollah to grow stronger,"
Itamar Ben-Gvir, Israeli National Security Minister
Recent escalation and casualties
Lebanon was pulled into the broader US-Israel-Iran conflict on 2 March after Hezbollah launched retaliatory rockets following an Israeli strike that killed Iran's supreme leader. Israel responded with airstrikes across Lebanon and a ground incursion in the south.
Since then, Lebanon's health ministry reports 3,516 fatalities, without distinguishing between combatants and civilians. Over one million people have registered as displaced, with Israeli evacuation orders covering more than one-eighth of Lebanese territory. Israel reports 26 soldiers and four civilians killed on both sides of the border.
Continued violence amid truce
Lebanese state media reported ongoing Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon on Thursday. The health ministry confirmed six deaths-four Syrians and two Palestinians-in an airstrike near the coastal city of Tyre. Two paramedics were killed and a third critically injured when an ambulance belonging to the Risala Scouts Association, linked to Hezbollah ally Amal, was directly targeted. The ministry condemned the attack as a violation of international humanitarian law protecting medical personnel.
At least 128 healthcare workers and paramedics have died in Israeli strikes on medical facilities and ambulances over the past three months. Israel has previously claimed, without evidence, that ambulances were used for military purposes but did not comment on the latest incident.
The Lebanese army reported one soldier killed and two others wounded in separate Israeli drone strikes targeting vehicles near Nabatieh. The army denounced what it called a pattern of deliberate attacks on its personnel and positions.
On Wednesday, an Israeli strike hit a car on the coastal highway near Khaldeh, just south of Beirut, injuring two people. It marked the closest attack to the capital since the partial ceasefire was declared. The Israeli military also intercepted a hostile aircraft and two projectiles near the northern border. Hezbollah later claimed responsibility for a rocket barrage targeting Israeli troops in retaliation for ceasefire violations.
Ceasefire terms and political reactions
The partial ceasefire announced on Monday stipulates that Israel will refrain from bombing Beirut in exchange for Hezbollah halting attacks on northern Israel. The Lebanese government stated that Hezbollah had accepted the terms, though a Hezbollah political council member, Mahmoud Qamati, told the BBC that no formal ceasefire existed-only an agreement to protect Beirut's southern suburbs, known as Dahieh.
"We think these negotiations do not concern us, nor do we recognise their findings or decisions, because we have rejected them on principle,"
Mahmoud Qamati, Hezbollah political council member
US President Donald Trump appeared to confirm reports that he had pressured Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to halt strikes on Beirut, reportedly calling Netanyahu "crazy" in an expletive-laden phone call. Trump is reportedly concerned that further escalation could derail broader efforts to end the US-Israel-Iran war.
Iran has warned that any regional ceasefire must include Lebanon. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi stated that if Israeli aggression against Beirut continued, Iran's armed forces were "fully prepared" to resume hostilities, according to the Tasnim news agency.
