Israeli airstrikes and artillery shelling across southern Lebanon’s Nabatieh district killed at least 16 people overnight, according to Lebanon’s National News Agency, marking the heaviest violence since the United States and Iran signed a 14-point Memorandum of Understanding on Wednesday. The agreement, presented as a roadmap to end the Middle East war, explicitly required an immediate and permanent cessation of military operations on all fronts, including Lebanon. Yet within 24 hours, Israeli forces struck what they described as Hezbollah targets in multiple towns, while Hezbollah fighters reported destroying three Israeli Merkava tanks with guided missiles near the strategic Ali al-Taher hills, killing four Israeli soldiers including a lieutenant colonel.

The Israeli military stated the strikes were a response to “repeated violations of the ceasefire” by the Iran-backed group and published a map of a security zone extending roughly 10 kilometres inside Lebanese territory, vowing to remain there “to remove threats” and to continue operations beyond it if necessary. Israeli security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir declared on social media that “all of Lebanon must burn,” while finance minister Bezalel Smotrich called for “opening the gates of hell.” Hezbollah, for its part, said it was repelling an Israeli offensive and that the war had “failed” to eliminate the group; its parliamentary bloc chief Mohammad Raad urged Lebanese authorities to pursue indirect negotiations and demanded a full Israeli withdrawal within 60 days. Viewed from Washington, the administration of President Donald Trump has grown openly critical of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s stance. Trump remarked that “without the US there would be no Israel” and that Netanyahu “has to be more responsible with respect to Lebanon.” Vice President JD Vance, in a sharp rebuke, reminded Israeli cabinet members that two-thirds of Israel’s defensive weapons were “made by American hands and paid for by American taxpayers.”

The renewed fighting immediately raised questions about the durability of the US-Iran accord, which had already reopened the Strait of Hormuz to international shipping—more than 12.5 million barrels of oil transited the waterway on Wednesday night—and set in motion sanctions relief and a potential $300 billion reconstruction fund for Iran. Planned follow-up talks in Switzerland between US and Iranian delegations were postponed on Friday; the White House cited logistical issues, but pan-Arab channel Al Mayadeen, which is aligned with Hezbollah, reported that Iran delayed its delegation over Israel’s ongoing campaign. UN peacekeepers in Lebanon observed 143 projectile trajectories on Thursday, 119 attributed to the Israel Defense Forces and the remainder to Hezbollah, underscoring the intensity of exchanges despite the nominal ceasefire.

The US-Iran deal, digitally signed by Trump and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, commits Iran not to develop nuclear weapons and to cooperate with international inspections, while the US begins lifting restrictions. However, Israel and Hezbollah are not signatories, and the text does not explicitly mandate an Israeli withdrawal from southern Lebanon—a point Iran insists is essential. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, in his first reaction, endorsed direct negotiations but said they would “not mean accepting the enemy’s opinion.” With the Swiss talks delayed and no new date announced, the agreement’s implementation remains contingent on halting the very hostilities it was designed to end.