Israeli air and drone attacks killed at least 32 people across southern and eastern Lebanon, according to casualty reports from Lebanese official agencies, despite a renewed ceasefire that had taken effect on Friday. The continuing violence complicated planned negotiations involving the United States and Iran.
Lebanon's Civil Defence agency said 16 people were killed and 12 wounded in Nabatieh district on Saturday. The National News Agency reported that an Israeli attack killed a Lebanese soldier in Kfar Reman. It also said four members of one family — two parents and their two children — died in Barish, while a strike on a home in Sohmor in the western Bekaa Valley killed four and injured one.
Lebanon's Health Emergency Operations Centre separately reported seven deaths and 13 injuries in Qanarit in Sidon district. Taken together, those location-specific reports accounted for at least 32 deaths. The published report also described more than 100 Israeli air strikes on southern Lebanon since midnight, based on reporting from the area.
The previous day had already produced heavy casualties. Lebanon's Ministry of Public Health said 83 people were killed and 141 wounded in Israeli attacks on Friday, most in the south and others in the east. By June 20, the ministry put the total since March 2 at 4,057 deaths and 12,121 injuries.
Hezbollah said it attacked Israeli troops that had moved towards an area near Nabatieh. Israel's military said the group launched more than 50 projectiles at its soldiers overnight and accused it of breaching the ceasefire. The Israeli army also announced that another soldier had died in southern Lebanon, the fifth Israeli military fatality since the US-Iran agreement was reached.
The Lebanese army said continued Israeli attacks were obstructing efforts to restore stability. Hezbollah parliamentarian Ali Fayyad rejected a ceasefire that would leave Israeli forces on Lebanese soil and said the group retained a right to respond. Israel maintains that Hezbollah must be disarmed, while Lebanon's government has pushed both for disarmament under a US-backed roadmap and for an Israeli withdrawal.
The violence had significance beyond Lebanon. Pakistan's Foreign Ministry said US and Iranian representatives, joined by Pakistani and Qatari mediators, were expected to meet in Burgenstock, Switzerland, on Sunday for follow-up talks on their memorandum of understanding. Iran regarded an end to fighting in Lebanon as central to that process.
A new round of Israel-Lebanon negotiations was also scheduled in Washington. Yet Hezbollah was not included, limiting confidence that any arrangement could be enforced. The deaths on June 20 demonstrated how quickly action on the ground could undermine overlapping diplomatic tracks, even after another ceasefire announcement.
