Iran accuses U.S. of “grave violation” of ceasefire as Trump seeks “good deal or no deal”

Israel’s military clashed with Iranian-backed Hezbollah fighters Tuesday along a strategic river in Lebanon, as Israeli forces tried to push farther north into the neighboring country just three days before Lebanese and Israeli military delegations are set to meet for talks in Washington.

A previously reached ceasefire appears more nominal by the day, complicating efforts at a broader peace in the Iran war, as Tehran demands that any end to the fighting include Lebanon.

The Litani River has been a de facto boundary in Lebanon, with large areas to the south under Israeli military control despite the Washington-brokered ceasefire in place for over a month.

The latest strikes and clashes came after Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he had authorized more intensive strikes targeting Hezbollah across Lebanon.

An Israeli security official told The Associated Press the military had called up an additional battalion to join the operations in Lebanon.

The Israel Defense Forces said it struck more than 100 Hezbollah sites across southern Lebanon and in Lebanon’s eastern Bekaa Valley overnight, saying it targeted storage facilities, command centers and observation points used to attack Israeli troops and residents in northern Israel.

One strike hit the eastern village of Mashghara, killing 11 people, two of them children, Lebanon’s ministry of health said Tuesday. 

Israel has intensified strikes in recent days in Nabatieh city and province, just north of the Litani River. On Tuesday it warned city residents to leave the area.

Hezbollah, meanwhile, said it launched several rocket, artillery and exploding drone attacks on Israeli troops and vehicles mobilizing along the river toward the Nabatieh villages of Yohmor al-Shaqif and Zawtar al-Sharqieh. Hezbollah’s Al-Manar TV said the militant group repelled attacks along the river banks.

CBS/AP