With a cease-fire between Israel and the Lebanese armed faction Hezbollah extended under U.S. mediation, Israel heavily bombed southern Lebanon, causing casualties. Israel claimed Hezbollah first violated the cease-fire agreement.
According to a roundup of major outlets including Al Jazeera on the 25th (local time), Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the military to strike key Hezbollah strongholds hard. Netanyahu said, "We maintain complete freedom to act against any threat," underscoring the legitimacy of the operation. The Israel government also said, "Hezbollah has violated the cease-fire multiple times and is undermining peace talks," explaining the rationale for the attacks.
According to the Lebanon Ministry of Health, Israel Defense Forces carried out two airstrikes on a truck and a motorcycle in Yohmor al-Shqif in the Nabatieh area of southern Lebanon, killing at least four people. The area lies outside the south of the Litani River, which the Israel Defense Forces declared as an operational zone. It means Israel crossed the line to expand strikes beyond the self-set and released operational zone. The Israel Defense Forces said it was an operation to eliminate terrorists transporting weapons.
Israel's strikes targeting civilian residential complexes also continued, increasing Lebanon's toll. The Lebanon Ministry of Health counted 2,496 dead and 7,719 injured since Mar. 2. Hezbollah immediately responded by sending multiple drones toward northern Israel after the airstrikes.
Earlier, U.S. President Donald Trump released a 10-day cease-fire on the 17th and then declared on the 23rd that the cease-fire period would be extended by three more weeks. But immediately after the extension was released, Israel resumed military action, drawing criticism that the U.S.-brokered proposal has effectively become a scrap of paper. Ali Fayyad, a Hezbollah lawmaker, warned, "A cease-fire is meaningless when Israel insists on hostile acts such as assassinations, shelling and shootings," adding, "We maintain the right to retaliate."
Middle East experts said the cease-fire is merely part of Israel's tactical calculus rather than a path to resolving the conflict. Security expert Ali Rizk said in an interview with Al Jazeera, "The cease-fire never existed," adding, "It was only an agreement that Israeli officials reached to proceed with talks, and the top objective of those talks is to dismantle Hezbollah."