Israel vows to continue war on Hizbollah despite Iran ceasefire

Israel launched its largest wave of strikes on Lebanon since the start of the latest war against Hizbollah on Wednesday, after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office insisted that the ceasefire between the US, Iran and Israel would not cover its neighbour.

The bombardment hammered central Beirut, hitting densely packed residential areas far from the zones of the capital’s south that are under Israeli evacuation orders. The Israeli military said it hit 100 sites across the country that are linked to Iran-backed militant group Hizbollah.

The escalation was long-feared, as Israel has indicated for weeks that the conflict in Lebanon would outlast that in Iran. Despite expressing support for the ceasefire with Tehran, which would see a halt to strikes on Iran for two weeks, Netanyahu’s office said the agreement “does not include Lebanon”.

In an interview with PBS NewsHour, US President Donald Trump confirmed that Lebanon was “not included in the deal . . . because of Hizbollah”. When asked about Israel’s strikes, he said those were part of “a separate skirmish”.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

In signs the Israeli strikes on Lebanon were already straining the ceasefire, Iran said it had halted the passage of oil tankers through the Strait of Hormuz in response to the assault.

Tehran is supposed to allow the free flow of traffic through the strategic waterway as part of the ceasefire agreement. Tehran also threatened to withdraw from the ceasefire with the US if Israeli attacks on Lebanon continue.

In a recorded statement on Wednesday, Israel’s defence minister Israel Katz called the strikes on Lebanon the largest blow against Hizbollah since the attack that caused pagers used by hundreds of its members to explode almost simultaneously in September 2024.

At one location, an entire building was destroyed; in another, charred bodies lay in a burning car at one of the capital’s busiest intersections. The attacks also hit the eastern Bekaa Valley, the city of Tyre and areas across southern Lebanon, where Israel said it hit various Hizbollah military targets. At least 50 locations across the country were hit, according to an FT tally of national news agency statements.

More than 254 people were killed — including 153 in Beirut and its southern suburbs — and more than 700 wounded, according to Lebanon’s state-run civil defence service. An Israeli strike before dusk in central Beirut, which also came without warning, destroyed a building.

The IDF claimed, without providing evidence, that Hizbollah militants had begun establishing themselves beyond areas where it traditionally dominates and had moved into “mixed areas across Lebanon”.

The attacks undercut Pakistani premier Shehbaz Sharif, who brokered the ceasefire and said the US, Iran and their allies “have agreed to an immediate ceasefire everywhere, including Lebanon”.

Israeli officials had been planning a fresh offensive against Hizbollah even before the US-Israeli war with Iran began in late February, with the goal of driving the militant group back from the Lebanese-Israeli border and preventing it from firing missiles at Israel’s northern communities. 

In the five weeks since, Israeli forces have pushed deep into Lebanon and seized a “buffer zone” in the south, around 8 to 10km beyond the border. A person briefed on the situation said Israeli officials wanted to continue operations against Hizbollah as it had not yet managed to defang the militant group.

Katz said his country had “stood firm on isolating the fronts between Iran and Lebanon”.

The person briefed on the situation added that Trump, who announced the two-week ceasefire, was more focused on Iran than Lebanon. “The quick win is Iran,” the person said.

An Arab diplomat said Lebanon’s exclusion from the ceasefire seemed to reflect the fact that, unlike Israel, the US and Iran did not see the conflict with Hizbollah as a priority.

European leaders and Canada called on “all sides to implement the ceasefire, including in Lebanon” in a joint statement on Wednesday.

A person familiar with Hizbollah’s affairs said the group was committed to the US-Iran ceasefire, which it understood to include Lebanon and that it has not launched any attacks on Israel or Israeli troops inside Lebanon since the deal was announced overnight.

Hizbollah will probably issue an official statement outlining its formal position, though its next moves would depend on Israel’s stance, said the person, who was not authorised to speak publicly.

“If the Israeli enemy does not adhere to a ceasefire, then no party will commit to it, and there will be a response from the region, including Iran,” Hizbollah MP Ibrahim Moussawi told Lebanese TV. 

Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said Beirut was intensifying its efforts to achieve a ceasefire in Lebanon. “No one negotiates on behalf of Lebanon except the Lebanese state,” he said.

But a senior Lebanese official told the FT that Beirut was not consulted in the talks, reflecting its lack of agency concerning Hizbollah and Israel’s war. The state was urgently seeking clarity from its allies, the official said.

Lebanon was plunged back into conflict last month after Hizbollah launched attacks on Israel in support of Tehran. Hizbollah said the attacks were in retaliation for the killing of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as well as Israel’s violations of a ceasefire agreed by both parties in November 2024.

That truce came after more than a year of cross-border fire between Hizbollah and Israel, which began when Hizbollah attacked Israel in support of Hamas’ October 7 assault, which escalated into a full-blown conflict in September 2024. 

But it was a ceasefire in name only, as Israel launched near-daily strikes on what it said were Hizbollah targets. Its troops continued occupying a handful of positions inside Lebanese territory, barring residents of southern villages from returning home and detaining more than a dozen Lebanese citizens. Hundreds of people were killed during the purported ceasefire.

Analysts said Hizbollah decided to enter the war partly in an attempt to gain leverage and attach itself to Iran in regional ceasefire talks, in order to renegotiate the terms of its deal with Israel. 

Following news of Wednesday’s ceasefire, the Lebanese Army blocked roads and urged the more than 1.2mn people displaced in the latest round of fighting not to return south. Hizbollah also warned residents to refrain from heading south “until the official final announcement of a ceasefire in Lebanon”.

More than 1,600 people have been killed in Israel’s current air and ground campaign across Lebanon, including 130 children and dozens of medical workers and rescue staff, according to Lebanon’s health ministry. 

Additional reporting by Chris Cook in London, Najmeh Bozorgmehr in Tehran and James Politi in Washington