Israel intensified its military campaign in Lebanon and Gaza at a critical diplomatic moment in the Middle East, challenging calls for restraint as US and Iran peace talks gather momentum.
In one of the deadliest days in the war in Lebanon, a wave of strikes across the country killed 83 people in the past 24 hours, while fighting with Hezbollah inside occupied zones in southern Lebanon continued.
Israeli strikes and gunfire across the Gaza Strip on Saturday killed at least nine people, including a child and a journalist working for Al Jazeera, health officials said, in one of the biggest attacks since the latest ceasefire took shape.
The escalation challenges the diplomatic momentum building across the region, as the US and Iran move towards broader talks on a permanent peace deal following the signing of a preliminary agreement.
Israel has faced criticism from the US over its relentless military campaign. But Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has made it clear that his government does not consider itself bound by the agreement and intends to continue strikes across the region.
"Humiliated by [US President Donald] Trump on the Iran front, Netanyahu may set the Middle East ablaze," wrote Haaretz.
Iran has warned that continued Israeli operations in Lebanon risk derailing understandings linked to the US talks, and has previously threatened broader regional measures if escalation continues. US Vice President JD Vance posted on X that he hoped to “make progress on the nuclear issue” and “make progress on the Lebanon ceasefire issue”, describing them as “the two big things” that would be the focus of the discussions in Switzerland.
Mr Trump on Sunday said the US will resume attacks on Iran unless the Iranians can keep their Hezbollah allies in Lebanon from causing violence.
"Iran must immediately stop their highly paid PROXIES in Lebanon from causing trouble," Trump wrote on Truth Social. "If they don’t, we’ll hit Iran very hard again, just like we did last week, only harder!!!"
Attacks hit southern towns, the eastern Bekaa Valley, and areas from Nabatieh to Jezzine, including a strike on Qennarit that alone killed nine people, said Lebanon state media. Lebanese politicians sharply criticised Israel’s military campaign, saying it was acting as if it were above all agreements and understandings.
Hezbollah on Friday said it will not accept a ceasefire unless Israeli troops withdraw from Lebanon, as reports of a new truce emerged.
Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz insisted on Sunday that troops would continue the war in Lebanon. "There was and is no restriction on [..] soldiers in Lebanon to act to eliminate threats," he said in a statement. "As Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and I have made clear: Israel will not withdraw from the security zone in Lebanon," he added.
In Gaza city, an air strike hit an apartment in the Sabra neighbourhood, killing four people, including two women and a child, and wounding others, medics said. The Israeli military said it struck a militant target, without providing further details.
Elsewhere, a woman was shot dead in Beit Lahiya in northern Gaza, while an air strike in Khan Younis in the south killed at least one person and wounded eight others, medics said.
Later in the day, an air strike hit the Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza, killing three people, including Al Jazeera cameraman Ahmed Washah. Al Jazeera said he was killed while working and called it a “heinous crime”.
“Al Jazeera Media Network condemns the deliberate killing of its Al Jazeera Mubasher Channel’s cameraman Ahmed Washah by Israeli occupation forces … in an Israeli bombardment that targeted a house in the Bureij camp in the central Gaza Strip,” it said in a statement.
The pan-Arab news network said Mr Washah was the 12th of its journalists killed in Gaza since October 2023, and noted that his brother, also an Al Jazeera journalist, was killed earlier this year.
The Palestinian Journalists’ Syndicate condemned the killing and called for accountability, saying nearly 300 Palestinian journalists have been killed since the war began.
The Israeli military said it had killed a Hamas militant who also worked as an Al Jazeera photojournalist and alleged he was a sniper, but did not provide evidence. Hamas and Al Jazeera both deny any affiliation.
Gaza’s health ministry says more than 1,010 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire since a ceasefire took effect, with violence continuing despite the truce and both sides accusing each other of violations.
Talks mediated by Egypt, Qatar, Turkey and US envoy Nickolay Mladenov on implementing the next phase of the Gaza peace plan have so far failed to produce agreement, amid continued deadlock between Israel and Hamas over disarmament and governance.
Meanwhile, hundreds protested against the Israeli government across the country, chanting: "Revenge and blood must stop."
