Israel strikes Bekaa Valley, expanding Lebanon offensive
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- Israeli military began striking Hezbollah infrastructure in Lebanon's eastern Bekaa Valley on Monday, with hits near the town of Nabi Chit on the Syria border — the first strikes in that area since the U.S.-brokered ceasefire came into force on April 16.
- Israel has continued strikes across southern Lebanon and kept troops occupying a strip of the south, destroying homes it claims Hezbollah uses, while Hezbollah has responded with drone and rocket attacks on Israeli troops and northern Israel.
- Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem declared direct negotiations between Lebanon and Israel "nonexistent" to his group and called them a "humiliating and unnecessary concession," vowing to continue "defensive resistance."
- Lebanese President Joseph Aoun publicly pushed back at Hezbollah on Monday, defending face-to-face talks with Israel and asking: "When you went to war, did you first obtain national consensus?"
- Lebanon's Health Ministry reports at least 2,509 people have been killed in Israeli strikes across Lebanon since March 2, when Hezbollah fired on Israel in support of ally Iran.
- U.S. President Donald Trump announced Thursday that Israel and Lebanon agreed to extend their initial 10-day truce for another three weeks, though a UNHCR representative on the ground called the truce "unstable."
- Lebanese and Israeli ambassadors to the United States have now met twice to discuss the ceasefire, which is intended to pave the way for direct talks toward a peace deal.
Why it matters: Strikes reaching the Bekaa Valley — previously untouched during the ceasefire — signal the truce is being interpreted as a permission to widen the war, not wind it down. With at least 2,509 Lebanese killed since March 2 and Hezbollah refusing to recognize the talks, the diplomatic track faces a widening gap between the governments negotiating in Washington and the armed group whose territory is actually being bombed.
