Israeli army ‘kills dozens of Hezbollah’ members in Lebanon; defence minister says ‘nobody can tell us…’: Is Iran peace deal in trouble?

Israel claimed to have killed ‘dozens of Hezbollah members’ as it continued to pound southern Lebanon villages. Its defence minister, Israel Katz said on Friday “nobody can tell us what to do” even if US President Donald Trump “says otherwise”. His comments came as the Israeli Defence Forces' ongoing fighting with Hezbollah in Lebanon appeared to threaten the Iran-US peace deal. A Friday meeting for the final signing of the deal was postponed by host Switzerland hours earlier. Four Israeli soldiers were killed in the fighting in southern Lebanon.

Israeli military claims to have struck 80 Hezbollah targets

The Israeli military said it hit more than 80 Hezbollah targets in Lebanon and killed dozens of its members in response to what it claimed were truce violations earlier.

"A short while ago, in response to repeated violations of the ceasefire by the Hezbollah terrorist organisation, which continues to advance and execute attacks against IDF soldiers, the IDF struck Hezbollah infrastructure sites in the Beqaa Valley," said the IDF statement.

It described the targets as “command centres, terrorists, launch positions, and additional terrorist infrastructure sites in the area of Nabatieh and additional areas in southern Lebanon, within the Security Zone and beyond it.”

Separately, Lebanon’s National News Agency (NNA) and health officials reported that at least 18 people were killed in the Nabatieh strikes by Israel.

Four Israeli soldiers killed

Hezbollah had launched attacks, including drones, that killed four Israeli soldiers and wounded five in one incident near Kfar Tebnit. Israel described its actions as responses to these violations, Times of Israel reported.Those killed included Dor Gedalia Ben Simhon, 32, from Beit HaShita, who commanded the 52nd Battalion, 401st Brigade. Three members of his tank crew were also killed in the fighting. The deaths were caused by a suspicious object that struck a tank of Battalion 52 forces operating near Tebnit, Israeli media reported.

Is Israel defying Trump on Lebanon?

“Nobody can tell us what to do, and we’ve proven it," Israeli defence minister Katz said in a Channel 14 interview amid intensified fighting in Lebanon.

Katz has been stressing Israel's right to act independently against threats, and rejecting external dictates, even if it is from the US, the key ally of the Jewish nation.
In recent remarks, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu distanced Israel from the Iran-US peace MoU, saying it's not a signatory and was not involved in the negotiations.

He insisted that Iran's nuclear threat, particularly the dismantling of enrichment sites and removing enriched material, should be part of the deal.

He ruled out immediate troop withdrawals from the conflict, stating Israeli forces will remain in "deep security zones" in southern Lebanon as well as Gaza and Syria "for as long as necessary" to protect Israel, The Guardian reported.

Is the US-Iran peace deal unravelling?

The intense clashes could threaten the Iran-US ceasefire, which Tehran had insisted should be on all fronts, including Lebanon.
Even as a 60-day negotiation window is closing, Iran has postponed related nuclear talks, partly due to the ongoing violence in Lebanon. Switzerland postponed the scheduled Friday signing of the MoU after US Vice President cancelled his trip for the same.

Israel, a party in the US-Iran war, was not one of the signatories or negotiators of the Iran peace Memorandum of Understanding.

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