An Israeli drone strike on a vehicle in southern Lebanon killed two people on Wednesday, the second fatal incident in 48 hours, drawing a warning from Hezbollah that it is monitoring what it termed a “flagrant breach” of the ceasefire. The Israeli military said its air force struck a vehicle carrying suspects who had crossed into the security zone it has established in the Ali al-Taher Ridge area, posing a threat to soldiers. Lebanese state media reported the two deaths near the town of Kfar Rumman. Hezbollah, in a statement, said the dead were Lebanese citizens inspecting their homes and accused Israel of deliberately targeting civilians.

According to Israeli officials, the military will continue to operate to remove immediate threats and will not permit Hezbollah to harm its forces. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated that Israel will maintain its buffer zone in southern Lebanon as long as he remains in office, while Defence Minister Israel Katz insisted there is no American demand for an Israeli withdrawal. The Israeli ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Danon, told reporters that Israel eventually aims to pull back to the Litani River and hand over positions to the Lebanese army, but only after US training and vetting to ensure units are not linked to Hezbollah.

Viewed from Washington, a US-backed proposal is under discussion in direct Israeli-Lebanese talks that would see Israeli forces transfer some occupied territory to the Lebanese military in a pilot project. Lebanese officials, who began negotiations with Israel in April, say their primary goal is a full Israeli withdrawal and stress that the Washington track is separate from parallel US-Iran talks in Switzerland. Those Swiss meetings, mediated by Pakistan and Qatar, have produced an agreement to set up a de-confliction cell to limit flare-ups in Lebanon, though Iran has linked halting the wider Middle East war to ending the Lebanon conflict.

Hezbollah, which drew Lebanon into the war by opening fire on Israel in support of Iran after US-Israeli strikes on Iran, said it is documenting Israeli violations and will act accordingly. The ceasefire has largely held since Sunday, but Israeli forces remain deployed deep inside southern Lebanon. A new round of Israeli-Lebanese talks began on Tuesday, with the fate of the occupied territory and the durability of the truce now closely tied to both the bilateral negotiations and the broader US-Iran diplomatic effort.