Israel Strikes Southern Lebanon, Killing Eight, as Trump's De-escalation Announcement Goes Unheeded

Israeli drone strikes killed eight people across several villages in southern Lebanon on Tuesday, according to Lebanon's state-run National News Agency. Among the dead were James Karam, a dentist from the Christian town of Qlayaa, his daughter, and his son, struck in a car on the road between Marjayoun and Nabatiyeh. Two Syrians working at a plant nursery in Jibchit, two people in the nearby village of Toul, and one person in a car near Harouf were also killed. The Israeli military said it was not aware of strikes in that area.

The strikes came roughly 24 hours after Trump posted on social media that "Israel will not attack them, and they will not attack Israel," saying he had spoken with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and communicated with Hezbollah through mediators. Netanyahu subsequently issued a statement that made no mention of a new ceasefire and said the Israeli military "will continue to operate as planned in southern Lebanon," while warning that Israel would strike Beirut's southern suburbs if Hezbollah did not stop targeting Israeli civilians.

The Associated Press led with the gap between Trump's announcement and the continued hostilities, framing the ongoing fighting as a "significant sticking point" in broader U.S.-Iran ceasefire negotiations. The New York Times, in a live updates format, emphasized the pressure Trump applied to Netanyahu to hold off on striking Beirut, and Netanyahu's subsequent conditional pause, while foregrounding the risk to the wider Iran war peace process.