Israeli Strikes on Beirut Suburbs Test the Emerging Iran Truce

Israeli aircraft struck the Ghobeiry area of Beirut's southern Dahiyeh district on Sunday, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office saying the strikes targeted Hezbollah infrastructure. The Israeli military said it acted after accusing the Iran-backed group of violating a ceasefire and issued evacuation warnings for parts of southern Lebanon. Lebanon's health ministry reported casualties, and a Hezbollah commander was among those reported killed.

The timing matters because Iran has long made an end to fighting in Lebanon a condition for any wider agreement with Washington. Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said the attack showed the United States either lacked the will or the ability to honor its commitments, warning the strikes could end the talks. Israeli officials, by their own account, described the operation as a way to deter Hezbollah rather than an effort to collapse the negotiations, though a diplomat involved in the discussions called it a clear attempt to do exactly that.

Across Israeli, Western, Iranian and Lebanese accounts, the disputed point is intent. The question is whether the strike was a routine enforcement of an existing truce or a deliberate move to make the United States-Iran deal harder to complete at the moment of signing.