Israeli Strikes Kill Lebanese Soldiers Despite Ceasefire

Israeli forces continued launching deadly airstrikes across southern Lebanon on Saturday, just days after a US-brokered ceasefire was announced between Israel and Lebanon's government. A video captured journalist Abbas Fakih reporting from Nabatieh when an Israeli airstrike struck a car directly behind him. Separately, the Lebanese army announced that several of its soldiers, including a senior officer identified as a brigadier general, were killed when an Israeli strike targeted their military vehicle on the Khardali-Nabatieh road. Despite the declared ceasefire, Hezbollah has refused to accept the truce, which does not include the militant group or provide for Israel's withdrawal from southern Lebanon. The escalation comes as the United States and Iran exchange direct military strikes amid stalled negotiations. US Central Command intercepted seven ballistic missiles fired towards Kuwait and Bahrain, downing six and confirming the seventh did not reach its target. US forces subsequently targeted Iranian coastal surveillance radar sites in Goruk and on Qeshm Island. Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps stated its attacks were retaliation for US strikes, adding that it fired upon four tankers attempting to cross the all-but-closed Strait of Hormuz without coordinating with Iranian authorities. The IRGC's actions were described as a "warning" to the US, with explicit messaging that aggression would be met with immediate retaliation. The current conflict began March 2 when Hezbollah fired rockets at northern Israel, two days after Israel and the US launched attacks on Iran. Israeli forces have seized approximately a fifth of Lebanon, pushing deeper into the country's south than at any point since Israel's 1982-2000 occupation. More than 3,500 people have been killed in Lebanon since hostilities began, while at least 29 Israeli soldiers and three civilians have died. Meanwhile, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi publicly rejected comments by Lebanese President Joseph Aoun suggesting Beirut was a bargaining chip for Tehran, writing on social media: "Had Lebanon been a bargaining chip for Iran, we'd have a deal long ago."