Israel and the United States have blocked France from participating in verification of Hezbollah's disarmament under a US-brokered Lebanon deal, while Israel refuses to withdraw from additional areas of southern Lebanon until Lebanese army control is established in initial pilot zones.
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun met with U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday, presenting a plan to disarm Iran-backed Hezbollah and secure Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon. The meeting marks the first White House visit by a Lebanese head of state in nearly 20 years.
President Donald Trump has shocked regional actors by proposing that Syria, rather than Israel, should fight the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah in Lebanon. The proposal comes as the White House has grown dissatisfied with Israel's ongoing war with Hezbollah.
U.S. Vice President JD Vance met with Iranian officials in Switzerland to negotiate a permanent end to the war between the U.S., Israel and Hezbollah that began in late February 2026, while Lebanon discusses deconfliction mechanisms and northern Israeli communities remain largely deserted.
President Donald Trump suggested that Syria should take over Israel's military campaign against Hezbollah in Lebanon, claiming Damascus would do a "better job." Trump confirmed he had spoken with Syria's leader about combating the Iran-backed group, criticizing Israel's operation as too prolonged and deadly.
Israeli air strikes in southern Lebanon killed at least 17 people on June 9-10, 2026, according to Lebanese sources, as Israel intensified its military campaign against Hezbollah. The strikes included an attack on a vehicle in Sidon and came after Israel ordered residents of Tyre to evacuate.
An Israeli airstrike on a vehicle in southern Lebanon killed three Lebanese soldiers, including a brigadier general and a captain, just days after Israel and Lebanon reached a conditional ceasefire deal during US-mediated talks. The IDF has launched an investigation into the incident.
Israel and Lebanon agreed to a US-brokered ceasefire that would establish pilot security zones controlled by the Lebanese army, but the deal has stalled after Iran-backed Hezbollah rejected the terms requiring a complete cessation of its attacks. Oil prices fell on hopes the agreement could facilitate broader US-Iran peace talks.
Israeli airstrikes killed at least nine people in southern Lebanon and near Beirut on Wednesday, while Hezbollah launched cross-border attacks into northern Israel, undermining a ceasefire deal that U.S. President Donald Trump announced he had brokered earlier this week. The continued violence comes as Israeli forces maintain control of the historic Beaufort Castle in southern Lebanon.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ordered the military to step up attacks on Hezbollah in Lebanon, despite a ceasefire agreement reached last month that was recently extended. The Israeli military has begun a wave of strikes across Lebanon following the announcement.
Hezbollah drones, including inexpensive fiber-optic models costing around $300, successfully struck Israeli military positions including an Iron Dome battery in northern Israel, injuring soldiers. The escalating drone warfare in southern Lebanon is complicating Iran-U.S. negotiations over the Strait of Hormuz.
