Israeli airstrikes on southern Lebanon killed at least thirteen people on Friday, including four women and a child, according to Beirut’s health ministry, marking one of the deadliest days since a fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah took effect in mid-April. The strikes hit three villages — Habboush, Zrariyeh, and Ain Baal — with the highest toll in Habboush, where the Israel Defence Forces had issued an evacuation warning just hours earlier. The violence underscores how a truce intended to halt hostilities has instead become a backdrop for continued military operations on both sides of the border.

Despite the nominal pause in fighting, Israeli warplanes have bombarded southern Lebanon nearly daily, while Hezbollah has maintained rocket and drone fire into northern Israel. On the same day, Hezbollah drones lightly wounded four Israeli soldiers, prompting the IDF to tighten security guidelines in border communities. Viewed from Beirut, the airstrikes are not aberrations but part of a pattern: since the ceasefire extension was announced three weeks ago, Israeli bulldozers have pushed into Lebanese villages, demolishing homes, and the military has repeatedly ordered residents to flee areas it deems operational zones.

The Lebanese government, largely sidelined from the conflict, has struggled to protect civilians or hold Israel accountable under the terms of the truce. Analysts in London note that the ceasefire agreement, brokered by the United States and France, was always a temporary arrangement — a pause rather than a durable settlement. It did not compel either side to withdraw from disputed territory or cease all attacks, only to avoid large-scale escalations.

That ambiguity has allowed both parties to interpret the terms loosely, with Israel claiming the right to pre-emptive strikes against Hezbollah positions near the border, and Hezbollah framing its cross-border fire as retaliation for Israeli violations. In Washington, there is growing alarm that the violence could spiral into a wider regional conflict, particularly as Iran-backed groups across the Middle East watch the exchanges closely. The humanitarian toll is mounting: rescue workers in southern Lebanon describe overwhelmed clinics and a population paralysed by evacuation orders.

The United Nations has called for restraint, but without a political framework to address the underlying grievances — the unresolved border dispute, Hezbollah’s arsenal, and Israel’s security demands — the ceasefire appears likely to continue its slow collapse, leaving civilians on both sides trapped in a cycle of attack and reprisal.