Three weeks into a ceasefire that was supposed to halt the bloodshed, Israeli strikes across Lebanon killed at least 39 people on Saturday, according to Lebanese authorities — one of the deadliest days since the truce took effect.

The bombardment hit towns across southern Lebanon and reached a highway just 20 kilometres south of Beirut, well outside Hezbollah’s traditional territory. Hezbollah responded with drone attacks on northern Israel that wounded three soldiers, one severely.

The escalation in Lebanon unfolded on the 72nd day of the wider US-Israeli war against Iran. Washington is still waiting for Tehran’s response to a proposal to end that conflict. That response has not come.

Civilians in the Crosshairs

In the town of Saksakiyeh, a single Israeli raid killed seven people, including a girl, and wounded 15 others, among them three children, according to Lebanon’s health ministry. The Israeli military said it struck “Hezbollah terrorists operating from within a structure used for military purposes” and added it was “aware of reports regarding harm to uninvolved civilians.”

In Nabatieh, a Syrian man and his 12-year-old daughter were struck while riding a motorbike. After they moved away from the initial strike, the drone attacked again, killing the father, the health ministry said. It then targeted the girl “directly for a third time.” She was undergoing life-saving surgery.

In Bedias, one person was killed and 13 wounded, including six children and two women, the health ministry said. Israel’s military had ordered residents of nine villages to evacuate, but neither Saksakiyeh nor Nabatieh were among the warned areas.

Israeli forces said they struck more than 85 Hezbollah infrastructure sites in 24 hours and are operating inside a “yellow line” roughly 10 kilometres into Lebanese territory, where residents have been told not to return.

A Ceasefire in Name

The truce, brokered by Washington, included a critical caveat: Israel reserved the right to act against “planned, imminent or ongoing attacks.” The distance between that language and the reality on the ground has become difficult to distinguish from no ceasefire at all.

Hezbollah entered the war on March 2, launching rockets at Israel to avenge the killing of Iran’s supreme leader in US-Israeli strikes. Israeli attacks on Lebanon have killed nearly 2,800 people since that date, including dozens since the truce went into effect, according to Lebanese authorities.

Hezbollah lawmaker Hassan Fadlallah warned on Saturday of “a new phase, in which the resistance will not accept a return to pre-March 2.” The group claimed multiple attacks on Israeli military targets inside Lebanon using rockets and drones, alongside the drone strikes on northern Israel that left one reservist severely wounded and two others moderately injured.

Lebanese and Israeli representatives are set to hold another round of direct talks in Washington next week. Fadlallah called the negotiations a “path of concessions” and urged Beirut to withdraw in favour of indirect discussions.

Tehran’s Calculated Silence

Iran has yet to respond to the US proposal to end the war. President Donald Trump said on Friday he expected Tehran’s answer that night. By Saturday, he told French broadcaster LCI that he still expected a response “very soon.”

Pakistan’s military chief, Field Marshal Asim Munir, pledged to continue mediating. Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani met with Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Miami on Saturday and Vice President JD Vance on Friday to discuss the Pakistani-led efforts and regional security.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps struck a harder tone, threatening to target US sites in the Middle East and “enemy ships” if Iranian tankers come under fire. A military spokesperson warned that any country enforcing US sanctions would “definitely face difficulties passing through the Strait of Hormuz,” according to the Tasnim News Agency.

The US military’s Central Command said it had “disabled” four ships and prevented 58 commercial vessels from entering or exiting Iranian ports since April 13. On Sunday, a bulk carrier was struck by an unknown projectile 23 nautical miles northeast of Doha, according to UK Maritime Trade Operations.

A War Expanding

The parallel escalations — Israel pressing deeper into Lebanon, the IRGC threatening Gulf shipping, a merchant vessel hit off Qatar — point to a conflict that is broadening even as diplomats push to end it.

European Union crisis management chief Hadja Lahbib, visiting Lebanon, urged increased humanitarian access to the south. “Humanitarian aid is ready, but too often it cannot reach those who need it most,” she told journalists.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has offered to oversee the transfer and storage of Iran’s enriched uranium stockpile, adding another dimension to an already crowded diplomatic field. In Tehran, even the football federation was drawing lines, announcing that Iran would participate in the 2026 World Cup but demanding that joint hosts the US, Mexico, and Canada agree to its conditions.

Seventy-two days in, the war’s various fronts are moving in different directions — and none of them toward an off-ramp.

Sources