Israel continues to escalate strikes against southern Lebanon on Wednesday, and has killed at least nine people across the region, including two paramedics who were slain in an attack on an ambulance.
These attacks follow reports from President Trump that on Monday Israel agreed to postpone its attack on Beirut and that Hezbollah had made concessions to stop resisting Israel’s ongoing invasion of the south. Despite that, Israel attacked the area around Beirut today as well, killing at least one person there as well.
More than 20 attacks on Lebanon were reported on Wednesday so far, the deadliest in al-Hawsh, where an Israeli strike killed four Syrians and two Palestinians, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry.
People inspect the damage in the aftermath of an Israeli strike that hit near a hospital on Monday, in Tyre, Lebanon, June 2, 2026. REUTERS/Aziz Taher
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu framed the ongoing war as something President Trump and he were in total agreement on, with the goal of the conflict not just the disarming of Hezbollah but also the full demilitarization of Lebanon itself.
Netanyahu further claimed Lebanon had been “taken over by” Hezbollah, even though ongoing direct negotiations with Lebanon are still being held in the US that conspicuously are totally excluding Hezbollah. Hezbollah has opposed any negotiations that don’t include Israeli troops withdrawing from Lebanon, and it appears that Israeli officials aren’t seriously considering that possibility.
Since Israel invaded Lebanon in the beginning of March, over 3,500 Lebanese have been killed, and over 10,200 others wounded according to Health Ministry figures. This includes hundreds of women and children and more than 200 health care workers, as even though Israel insists they only attack Hezbollah infrastructure, they’ve repeatedly attacked hospitals and ambulances.
