Amid US-Iran deal, IDF says Hezbollah continues attacking troops in south Lebanon

Beirut says 1 dead in Israeli strike on car; no injuries reported after terror group fires anti-tank missile and mortars at Israeli soldiers; UNIFIL observes decrease in violence

Fighting between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon eased but did not halt entirely on Monday after the US signed a memorandum of understanding with Iran, as Israeli leaders vowed that the agreement did not prevent it from continuing to operate in south Lebanon.

The IDF said Monday evening that Hezbollah had fired several rockets at Israeli troops in southern Lebanon, one of several attacks carried out by the terror group throughout the day.

The IDF also confirmed striking Hezbollah operatives who “posed a threat” to forces in southern Lebanon on Monday.

According to the military, the rockets fired at Israeli forces were intercepted by air defenses. No sirens sounded in any towns in Israel.

Additionally, Hezbollah fired an anti-tank missile and several mortars at troops in southern Lebanon, in several separate attacks Monday, with no injuries caused, the IDF said.

Also, in four separate incidents throughout Monday, the IDF said, troops spotted “several terrorists traveling in vehicles and approaching IDF soldiers, in a manner that posed an immediate threat to them.”

The Israeli Air Force then struck “all of the threats in a precise manner,” the military added.

Lebanon’s National News Agency reported that a car was targeted in Kfar Tebnit, resulting in the death of the driver.

Hezbollah, the Iran-backed terror group, said Monday that it had attacked an Israeli force trying to advance in southern Lebanon. Fighters from the group “using rockets and drones” blocked an Israeli force consisting of an excavator and two Merkava tanks that was “advancing” in the vicinity of Kfar Tebnit town near the southern city of Nabatieh, Hezbollah claimed in a statement.

In another statement late Monday, it added: “The enemy army regrouped its forces in the vicinity of the crossing area by bringing in an armored force consisting of five Merkava tanks and four vehicles,” adding that it “targeted them with rocket barrages and artillery shells.”

Speaking to reporters Monday while in Versailles for a G7 summit, US President Donald Trump said “we do want to see if we can straighten out the Lebanon thing.

“It just seems to never end,” Trump added. “Hezbollah, we have to have a little talk with them.”

A senior US official told reporters on Monday that the MOU signed a day earlier with Iran is not conditioned on Israel withdrawing from Lebanon. However, the deal still envisions a ceasefire that covers Lebanon, as well as Iran, the US official said in a briefing with reporters.

According to a Monday report in Channel 13 news, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recently held a tense phone call with US Vice President JD Vance in which the latter asked for Israel to scale back the IDF’s presence in Lebanon, but Netanyahu refused.

“The IDF won’t withdraw, but from now on, every action will be scrutinized,” a source was quoted as saying by the network.

Holding a press conference Monday evening, Netanyahu said Israeli troops will remain in the buffer zone in southern Lebanon “for as long as necessary.”

“Iran wanted us to withdraw from there. That did not happen. Do you know why it did not happen? Among other reasons, because I stood very, very firm. I was very, very resolute on this matter. And I think our American friends respect that resoluteness and that firm stance,” Netanyahu said.

Defense Minister Israel Katz said earlier in the day that Israel will not withdraw from southern Lebanon “despite all the existing pressures and those that will still come.”

However UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres’s spokesman Stephane Dujarric said there had been fewer clashes between Israel and Hezbollah on Monday.

“We just got an update from our peacekeeping colleagues at UNIFIL (United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon), who report that from midnight until 4 p.m. local time today, UNIFIL observed a decrease in violence and exchanges of fire, recording 133 trajectories of projectiles and two airstrikes attributed to the IDF,” said the statement. “No trajectories from Hezbollah or non-State actors were reported during that time.”

Details of the agreement to end the Middle East war on all fronts have not been made public, but Iran and mediator Pakistan have both said it includes Lebanon.

An official source told AFP that “Lebanon was not informed of the terms of the agreement or the time of the ceasefire.”