Netanyahu Orders Fresh Beirut Strikes While US-Iran Peace Talks Hang In Balance

Isreal’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ordered fresh attacks on Beirut's Hezbollah-controlled southern suburbs, threatening to derail the already fragile diplomatic efforts aimed at resolving the broader US-Iran war.

Netanyahu and Defence Minister Israel Katz directed the Israeli military to strike what they described as "terrorist targets" in Dahiyeh, citing the group's "repeated violations" of the US-brokered ceasefire announced on April 16 and ongoing attacks on Israeli cities and civilians. Israel had carried out only two strikes on the area since the ceasefire announcement, even as fighting continued in southern Lebanon. Monday's order marks a significant escalation of that posture.

The move came after Israeli troops seized the Beaufort Castle, a 900-year-old fortification sitting atop a strategically commanding ridge in southern Lebanon, yesterday. Netanyahu simultaneously ordered the military to expand its ground operations, saying the aim was to "deepen and expand our grip on the places that were under Hezbollah's control."

Lebanon was drawn into the conflict on March 2, when Hezbollah launched rockets into Israel in retaliation for an Israeli strike that killed Iran's Supreme Leader. Lebanese health ministry figures put the death toll at more than 3,370 since the start of the war. The fighting has forced over one million people to flee their homes, according to Lebanese authorities. Israel reports 24 soldiers and four civilians killed on its side over the same period.

Diplomacy Under Strain

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke with both Netanyahu and Lebanese President Joseph Aoun on Sunday, proposing a sequenced de-escalation: Hezbollah would halt all attacks on Israel, and in return Israel would refrain from further escalation in Beirut.

Aoun sought to advance the proposal, but Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri — a close Hezbollah ally who claimed he could "guarantee" the group's commitment to a ceasefire — placed the precondition squarely on Israel.