Israeli military strikes southern Lebanon amid intense fighting

Erin Cunningham, David Rising and Jon Gambrell, Associated Press

Israel’s military has struck targets throughout southern Lebanon overnight as Hezbollah reported intense fighting in the area, threatening the nascent agreement between Iran and the United States to end their war.

Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency reported at least 16 people were killed in Israeli air strikes, which the Israeli military said were ongoing.

Meanwhile, Israel said four of its soldiers had been killed in fighting in southern Lebanon, including a lieutenant colonel.

Continued fighting in Lebanon could unravel the newly signed deal, which calls for an immediate halt to military operations “on all fronts, including in Lebanon”, where Israel has been battling the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group, and for ensuring Lebanon’s “territorial integrity and sovereignty”.

The deal aims to end the war and has reopened the Strait of Hormuz to international shipping, while bringing the US and Iran back to the negotiating table over Tehran’s nuclear programme.

Iran’s stranglehold on the strait had all but stopped the flow of oil through the key waterway.

US president Donald Trump said he signed the agreement to avoid “economic catastrophe” in the US, after the war caused oil prices to skyrocket, made financial markets skittish and fuelled inflation.

After the signing of the agreement, more than 12.5 million barrels of oil were shipped through the Strait of Hormuz on Wednesday night, the US said.

Israel and Hezbollah are not parties to the agreement. Iran insists Israel must withdraw from the large swathe of southern Lebanon it is occupying, but the wording of the interim deal does not explicitly require that.

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who faces elections later this year, has refused to withdraw, saying Israeli forces will remain in Lebanon until the threat from Hezbollah has been eliminated.

Mr Trump, meanwhile, has been openly critical of Mr Netanyahu’s recent moves, saying the day before the agreement with Iran was signed that “without the US there would be no Israel”.

“Without me, there would be no Israel because no other president was willing to do what I did — I have had a great relationship with Bibi,” Mr Trump said, using a nickname for Mr Netanyahu. “Now Bibi has to be more responsible with respect to Lebanon.”

The renewed Israeli attacks in Lebanon came as planned talks in Switzerland between Iran and the United States over their efforts to reach a permanent end to the Iran war were delayed.