Israel strikes Lebanon despite US-Iran agreement, three dead

Beirut: Israeli air attacks on southern Lebanon killed at least three people, Lebanese state media reported, a day after the US and Iran signed an interim deal that called for an end to their war on all fronts, including Lebanon. Lebanon’s National News Agency (NNA) reported on Thursday an Israeli drone attack hit a car near Kfar Tebnit, killing two people. At least one person was killed in a separate Israeli strike in Zabadin, it reported.

NNA reported a strike carried out by an Israeli drone in Beit Yahoun in Nabatieh Governorate injured two. However, Israel’s military released a map on Thursday showing what it said were the current positions of its forces inside southern Lebanon, extending about 10km (6.2 miles) into Lebanese territory along its “Yellow Line”, a framework similar to the Israeli military measure in the besieged Gaza Strip.

The map extends not only into Lebanese territory but also into its maritime zone, which would violate the Lebanon-Israel 2022 maritime agreement if Israel occupies it, according to maritime legal experts. The area also contains Lebanon’s Qana gas project, whose exploration rights were explicitly guaranteed to Lebanon under the 2022 US-brokered maritime border agreement with Israel.

PM Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday vowed that Israeli forces will stay in southern Lebanon “for as long as Israel’s security needs require it”.

Will likely back Bibi in elections: Trump 

US President Trump said he will likely support Prime Minister Benjamin Netan­yahu’s reelection campaign, Kan public television report­ed. The POTUS reportedly said he needs to see who is running in Israel’s 2026 elections, adding, he has a good relationship with Netanyahu but urging the premier to be more rational.

—Agencies