BEIRUT/JERUSALEM, June 23 (Reuters) – Shots fired by Israel killed two people in southern Lebanon on Tuesday, Lebanon’s Civil Defense and Ministry of Health reported, prompting Iran-backed Hezbollah to accuse Israel of violating a ceasefire that has largely been respected since Sunday.
The truce in fighting is the longest so far in this war, which was triggered by the conflict between the US and Iran on March 2, when Hezbollah opened fire on Israel in support of Tehran, prompting Israel to launch its second offensive in the country since 2024.
The southern highway was congested with cars on Tuesday as the relative calm encouraged displaced people to return home, despite concerns about the strength of the ceasefire and with Israeli forces still positioned inside Lebanon.
War has loomed over diplomatic efforts to resolve the conflict between the US and Iran, which required Israel to halt attacks in Lebanon as part of its interim deal with Washington, tying the fate of the broader negotiations to the conflict in Lebanon.
The shooting represented the first deaths since Sunday.
Israeli soldiers opened fire on a group of people near an excavator that was clearing a road in the al-Deir neighborhood of Nabatieh al-Fawqa, according to the local mayor and the Lebanese state news agency NNA.
The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the incident.
Hezbollah, in a statement, said two civilians were killed in the shooting in Nabatieh al-Fawqa and accused Israel of violating the ceasefire. He did not say whether he intended to respond.
Asked about the latest incident, Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva, Ali Bahreini, told reporters that any violation of the memorandum of understanding in Lebanon would create challenges for peace talks.
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“Lebanon is an unquestionable part of the agreement, and everything that happens in Lebanon affects the entire process; it is up to the United States to use all its influence against Israel to make it stop attacks against Lebanon,” he declared.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday that troops had complete freedom of action to prevent any direct or imminent threat from Hezbollah against them or Israeli citizens, and that they would remain in Lebanon “for as long as necessary.”
(Reporting by Maya Gebeily, Laila Bassam and Nazih Osseiran in Beirut, Jana Choukeir and Tala Ramadan in Dubai, Steven Scheer in Jerusalem, Olivia Le Poidevin in Geneva)
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