Lebanese health ministry says 31 killed in strikes, Israel reports deaths of 4 soldiers
\n washingon
\nIsrael and Hezbollah \u200bagreed to a ceasefire in \u200bLebanon on Friday, a \u200cUS official said, after an escalation \u200bin fighting there jeopardised the chances of an interim agreement on ending the war in Iran turning into a lasting Middle East peace deal.
\nThe senior US official \u200bsaid shortly before \u200c4pm Lebanon time (1300 GMT) that a ceasefire would come into effect then. \u201cWe understand that after the exchange of fire earlier today, Israel and Hezbollah are now in a ceasefire,\u201d the official said on background, saying that negotiators for the US and Qataris worked out the agreement with help from Iran.
\nThe ceasefire announcement came after several Israeli attacks killed at least 31 people in Lebanon since early Friday, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry.
\nUS-Iran talks in Switzerland planned for \u200cFriday were cancelled as fighting flared in Lebanon, creating new uncertainty about the timing of negotiations vital to ensure the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz to global shipping.A senior Hezbollah lawmaker said Iran had told the group that talks with the US could not continue without a comprehensive ceasefire.
\nIran\u2019s \u200bforeign ministry spokesperson did not mention the talks but said the US bore direct responsibility for Israeli attacks on Lebanon and that Tehran would take all necessary measures \u200bto protect its interests.
\nLebanon says 31 killed in strikes, Israel reports deaths of 4 soldiers
\nFighting flared in Lebanon on Friday, with authorities reporting 31 killed in Israeli airstrikes across the south and Israel announcing the deaths of four of its soldiers.
\nThe violence is the worst since the sealing of a US-Iran deal to halt the wider Middle East war, which was supposed to also pause the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon.
\nIsrael\u2019s military said it hit scores of targets overnight and into the morning. \u201cThe IDF (military) struck more than 80 command centres, terrorists, launch positions, and additional terrorist infrastructure sites in the area of Nabatieh and additional areas in southern Lebanon,\u201d an army statement said.
\n\u201cFurthermore, during the strikes, dozens of Hezbollah terrorists operating in the command centres were eliminated.\u201d
\nIran-backed Hezbollah, meanwhile, said it was attacking Israeli forces around the southern town of Nabatieh.
\nOther Israeli strikes targeted the Baalbek region in the east of the country, which had been largely spared since the start of the conflict on March 2.
\nIsrael said its strikes in Baalbek and the Bekaa Valley were in response to \u201crepeated violations of the ceasefire by Hezbollah\u201d, which it said \u201ccontinues to prepare and carry out terrorist attacks against Israeli soldiers\u201d.
\nEarlier, its military announced that Lieutenant Colonel Dor Gedalia Ben Simhon had \u201cfallen in combat\u201d along with three other soldiers whom it did not immediately identify.
\nA military official said the incident involved an impact from \u201ca suspicious target\u201d on an Israeli tank, with Israeli military correspondents reporting it had been hit by \u201ca suspected drone or anti-tank missile\u201d.
\nIn a separate statement the military also reported that a reserve officer was severely wounded \u201cas a result of an explosive drone impact in southern Lebanon\u201d, with four other soldiers lightly injured.
\nUS officials, including President Donald Trump have expressed frustration at Israel\u2019s campaign in Lebanon, which it has pursued in spite of Washington\u2019s negotiations with Tehran and a separate ceasefire agreed in April that was meant to halt the fighting there.
\nHezbollah said early Friday that it had targeted Israeli troops \u201cwith a barrage of rockets and mortar shells\u201d near the Ali al-Taher hills, a strategic feature overlooking Nabatieh.
\nIt had also reported attacking Israeli tanks, saying forces \u201cconsisting of an armoured platoon and an infantry platoon (tried) to infiltrate towards the northern side of the Ali al-Taher hills\u201d. \u201cThe clashes are still ongoing,\u201d it said.
\nHezbollah drew Lebanon into the Middle East war in early March by attacking Israel to avenge the killing of Iran\u2019s supreme leader at the start of the US-Israeli military campaign.
\nIsrael retaliated with broad strikes across Lebanon and a ground invasion in the south, which borders Israel and has long been under Hezbollah\u2019s sway.<\/p>\n
Iran condemns Israeli attacks on Lebanon
\nIran strongly condemned Israel\u2019s latest attacks on Lebanon and held the US directly responsible for the consequences of what it described as repeated violations of a ceasefire agreement, according to a statement shared Friday on Foreign Ministry spokesman\u2019s Telegram channel.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Lebanese health ministry says 31 killed in strikes, Israel reports deaths of 4 soldiers washingon Israel and Hezbollah \u200bagreed to a ceasefire in \u200bLebanon on Friday, a \u200cUS official said, after an escalation \u200bin fighting there jeopardised the chances of an interim agreement on ending the war in Iran turning into a lasting Middle East […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":552067,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-552057","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-world"],"yoast_head":"\n