Multiple days of negotiations in Washington D.C. have ended with Israel and Lebanon extending their ceasefire for an additional 45 days. Underscoring that Lebanese officials failed to get any assurances about the ceasefire working any better than it was before, Israel immediately attacked a medical center in southern Lebanon.
The US promised to proactively faciliate military-to-military communications between Israel and Lebanon, since Israel rarely communicates with Lebanon’s military. But since Israel is accustomed to attacking Lebanon without any coordination with Lebanon, its not clear what this would actually accomplish, and indeed little appears to have changed since the extension.
Israel issued new evacuation orders amid the announcement, leading to more displaced people fleeing north into the parts of Lebanon that notionally aren’t under attack but realistically get hit with Israeli airstrikes intermittently as well. Then an attack on Hanouf’s medical center came.
Rescuers inspect a car hit in an Israeli strike in Jiyeh area south of Beirut, Lebanon May 13, 2026. Picture taken with a mobile phone. REUTERS/Ali Hankir
At least six people were killed in the attack, according to Lebanese officials, including three paramedics. This adds to the ever-growing number of health care workers killed in the Israeli invasion of Lebanon, which has seen scores of paramedics killed in Israeli airstrikes on ambulances, and yet more killed when medical centers like this one come under inevitable attack.
The IDF has yet to comment on exactly why they attacked this particular medical center, particularly so soon after the ceasefire extension. The Lebanese Health Ministry suggested the attack was in violation of international law.
The ceasefire, during which hundreds of Lebanese have been killed, was scheduled to expire this weekend, but will now continue through the end of June, at least on paper. Whether anything will actually be changed for the 1.2-1.5 million displaced Lebanese people remains to be seen, but the early evidence is not promising.
