Smoke rises to the sky following an Israeli military strike in southern Lebanon as seen from northern Israel, on Friday, June 19, 2026.
| Photo Credit: AP
Lebanese official media said fresh Israeli strikes on the country’s south on Saturday (June 20, 2026) killed five people, despite a new ceasefire between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah group announced a day earlier.
The state-run National News Agency (NNA) reported Israeli airstrikes on more than a dozen south Lebanon locations after midnight and into Saturday (June 20) morning, many in and around the Nabatieh area.
It also reported Israeli artillery shelling on Nabatieh city and its outskirts, a region where fighting has been focused in recent days.
The NNA said three people were killed in airstrikes on the town of Arab Salim, while one person was killed in Deir Zahrani, and another after “an enemy drone launched a strike on a motorbike” at the entrance of the town of Dweir.
On Friday (June 19), a U.S. official told AFP an immediate truce between Israel and Hezbollah had been brokered by U.S. and Qatari mediators following talks with Israel and Iran. A Gulf diplomat confirmed the ceasefire.
Israel’s ambassador to the U.S. said his country would commit to the ceasefire if Hezbollah respected it.
Previous truce announcements have done little to stop attacks from either side.
The announcement came as Lebanon’s Health Ministry said Israeli airstrikes and bombardment on the country’s south and east killed 47 people on Friday, the worst violence since Washington and Tehran this week sealed a deal to halt the wider war in West Asia.
That agreement was supposed to also halt fighting between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Israel’s military on Friday (June 19) said four of its soldiers were killed, and reported more than 150 strikes on Lebanon, killing “dozens of Hezbollah terrorists”.
Also on Friday(June 19), Lebanese President Joseph Aoun told U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio that a comprehensive ceasefire was needed in order for talks with Israel to progress.
Under U.S. pressure, Lebanon in April began direct talks with Israel in Washington aimed at ending the hostilities and separating the Israel-Hezbollah conflict from the regional war.
A fifth round of talks is due to begin on Tuesday (June 23), according to the State Department.
U.S. officials including President Donald Trump have expressed frustration at Israel’s campaign in Lebanon.
But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday (June 19) reiterated that Israeli troops would stay in south Lebanon “as long as necessary”.
Published – June 20, 2026 12:17 pm IST
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