Israel and Hezbollah are holding to a tense ceasefire with Israeli troops restricted to defensive positions in Lebanon, while Israeli officials express concern that new U.S.-Iran understandings reached in Switzerland are legitimizing Iranian influence and constraining Israel's operational freedom in the region.
Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon killed at least 10 people, including high-ranking Lebanese Army soldiers and a general, just days after the two countries agreed to a conditional US-mediated truce. Lebanon's President Joseph Aoun condemned the attack as a violation of sovereignty and international law.
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.
Israel and Lebanon have agreed to hold direct ceasefire talks in Washington next week for the first time in decades, aimed at halting violence in southern Lebanon, though fighting continues with Israel claiming it killed a close aide to Hezbollah's leader.
Two Indonesian UN peacekeepers were killed by a roadside explosion in southern Lebanon on March 30, less than 24 hours after another Indonesian peacekeeper was killed. The UN Security Council convened an emergency session in response to the deaths as Israel expands its Lebanon operations.
