The attacks came a day after Israel and Iran pulled back from direct confrontation. The Israeli campaign against the Lebanese militia Hezbollah has been an obstacle in U.S.-Iran peace talks. Share full articleImageSmoke rises following an Israeli airstrike in the city of Tyre, Lebanon, on Tuesday.Credit...Kawant Haju/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images See more of our coverage in your search results.Encuentra más de nuestra cobertura en los resultados de búsqueda. Add The New York Times on GoogleAgrega The New York Times en Google Latest PinnedUpdated June 9, 2026, 8:14 a.m. ETLeo SandsEuan Ward and Qasim Nauman Here’s the latest.The Israeli military struck towns and villages across southern Lebanon on Tuesday, testing the shaky two-month cease-fire again just a day after direct hostilities between Iran and Israel threatened to unravel the truce. At least eight people were killed in an attack on the southern city of Tyre, and dozens more were wounded, Lebanon’s health ministry said. The latest attacks underlined how Lebanon has emerged as a major wedge issue in efforts to negotiate an end to the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran. Tehran has insisted that any peace agreement include security for Lebanon, while Israel has rejected any such link, insisting it will keep striking there to target the Iran-allied Hezbollah militia. After an Israeli strike near the Lebanese capital, Beirut, set off a brief round of clashes with Iran, Tehran warned on Monday that it would attack Israel again if it resumed its “aggression and hostile acts,” including in southern Lebanon. Hezbollah, for its part, has rejected any cease-fire with Israel, and has continued firing on Israel from its positions in southern Lebanon. Israel has occupied large parts of southern Lebanon, arguing that it is needed to defend itself against Hezbollah attacks, and the Israeli military issued new evacuation warnings in the region early Tuesday, warning of imminent strikes. Some of the attacks were in areas that were not covered by evacuation warnings, according to Lebanon’s state-run news agency. President Trump said early Tuesday that both Iran and Israel had agreed to stop their attacks on each other, and that “a very, very good deal” between the United States and Iran could be finalized within days. But it was not clear if the two sides were any closer to a deal, and there was no immediate response from Iranian officials to Mr. Trump’s comments. The president has repeatedly said that the United States and Iran were nearing an agreement to end the war, resolve the fate of Iran’s nuclear weapons program and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a vital artery for oil and gas shipments. Lebanon warnings: The Israeli military called for the evacuation on Tuesday of the entire city of Tyre, one of the largest cities in southern Lebanon, including, for the first time in the war, the Christian quarter of the ancient port city. American helicopter: A U.S. Army Apache helicopter gunship went down near the Strait of Hormuz on Monday, and its two crew members were rescued, according to two people briefed on the incident. It was not immediately clear what caused the helicopter to go down. Markets: The price of oil dipped slightly on Tuesday morning after rising the previous day following the exchange of strikes between Israel and Iran. Trump call: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel called off further strikes against Iran after a phone call with Mr. Trump on Monday in which the president told him that a breakthrough in negotiations was near, according to U.S. and Israeli officials. Israel strikes Lebanese city of Tyre as new cease-fire falters.ImageSmoke and debris following an Israeli airstrike in Tyre, Lebanon, on Tuesday.Credit...Kawant Haju/Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesIsraeli airstrikes pummeled the southern Lebanese city of Tyre on Tuesday, hours after the military issued an evacuation warning for the entire area, the latest sign that a U.S.-brokered cease-fire has failed to take hold. At least eight people were killed in the bombardment, and dozens more were wounded, Lebanon’s health ministry said. The Israeli military also targeted towns and villages across southern Lebanon, including areas that were not covered by evacuation warnings, according to the country’s state-run news agency. For the first time, the evacuation warning for Tyre included the ancient port city’s Christian quarter, a sign that Israel’s offensive was widening. Tyre, which is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, was home to roughly 100,000 before the start of the latest war in Lebanon between Israel and Hezbollah, the Iran-backed armed group, in March. The enduring conflict has become one of the central obstacles in the Trump administration’s efforts to reach an agreement to end the United States’ war in Iran. Iran has insisted on linking the two wars in any peace deal, but Israel has rejected efforts to connect the conflicts. On Sunday, an Israeli strike on the Dahiya neighborhood on the southern outskirts of Beirut, where Hezbollah holds sway, prompted Iran and Israel to launch strikes against each other for the first time since a fragile truce took effect in April. Iran has since pledged to attack Israel again if it keeps up its offensive, including in southern Lebanon. As President Trump scrambles to keep talks to end its war with Iran from collapsing, Israel and Lebanon agreed last week to a new U.S.-brokered cease-fire following negotiations in Washington. But Hezbollah, which was not a party to the talks, rejected the proposal because it required the group to stop firing without any immediate concessions from Israel. Hezbollah is Lebanon’s most powerful military force and the Lebanese government is not able compel the group to abide by any truce. Since the new cease-fire was agreed, Israel and Hezbollah have continued to launch attacks. The evacuation warning for Tyre prompted a new wave of people to flee from one of southern Lebanon’s largest cities, which is renowned for its well-preserved archaeological remains, including Roman ruins. That included the Christian quarter which sits alongside those ruins and has long been seen as a haven during war. Emergency shelters quickly filled with people, and rescue teams were working to evacuate older residents, according to Lebanon’s state-run news agency. During repeated bouts of conflict between Israel and Hezbollah in recent decades, residents from other parts of the city had often sheltered in the Christian quarter’s harbor-side alleyways, an area that was once a favorite weekend destination for Lebanese. Since Israel’s latest offensive began in March, the neighborhood had been spared the airstrikes that pummeled the rest of the city. The Israeli military said last week that it had “identified activity by dozens of Hezbollah operatives inside the Christian neighborhood,” and called on residents “to demand the removal of the organization’s operatives from your areas.” The Israeli military provided no evidence for its claim. Lebanese officials moved quickly after that warning to try to prevent the neighborhood from being drawn into the war, with army patrols entering the Christian quarter to begin “security and precautionary measures,” according to Lebanon’s state-run news agency. Video showed thick black smoke billowing from a high-rise building in Tyre, Lebanon, hours after the Israeli military issued an evacuation warning for the southern coastal city. The U.S. military said it was investigating what caused a helicopter to crash into the Persian Gulf overnight. U.S. Central Command said in a statement that an Apache gunship “went down near the coast of Oman while patrolling regional waters.” It added that the two crew members were rescued within about two hours and were in stable condition. The rescue effort involved a Navy unit that specializes in deploying unmanned aerial and surface drones, it added. Netanyahu spurs criticism in bowing to Trump over Iran and Lebanon.ImagePrime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel at the Knesset, Israel’s parliament, last week.Credit...Ronen Zvulun/ReutersPrime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s decision to halt the latest round of clashes with Iran following pressure from President Trump prompted criticism and mockery from the Israeli leader’s political rivals, and some expressions of concern from his allies. After speaking by phone with Mr. Trump on Monday, Mr. Netanyahu ordered the Israeli military to suspend plans for a new attack on Iran a short time later, according to multiple U.S. and Israeli officials briefed on the call. That disclosure prompted Gadi Eisenkot, a former chief of staff of the Israeli military and now a member of Parliament, to post a new campaign ad on social media. In the clip, Mr. Trump’s voice is heard saying several times of Mr. Netanyahu, “He’ll do whatever I want him to do.” Israel is scheduled to hold elections later this year, and Mr. Eisenkot surpassed Mr. Netanyahu in one recent poll as Israelis’ top choice for prime minister. “The U.S. has a leader,” a tagline in Mr. Eisenkot’s ad says. “Israel has no leader. That’s all the difference.” Naftali Bennett, a former prime minister who is challenging Mr. Netanyahu for the post, released a video statement saying that “the past 24 hours will be remembered as the beginning of normalizing a reality of drip-by-drip attacks from Iran.” He added that Mr. Netanyahu was “not capable of making a decision on any front — not in Gaza, not in Lebanon, and not in Iran.” Dan Illouz, a member of Parliament from Mr. Netanyahu’s Likud party, made a similar argument, albeit more obliquely. In a statement on social media, he said that Mr. Netanyahu’s government had totally relinquished the ability to act decisively against threats from Iran and in Lebanon, where the Iran-backed Hezbollah militia has been launching attacks against Israel. Mr. Illouz argued that Israel was effectively being prevented from striking Dahiya, a Hezbollah stronghold on the outskirts of Beirut, unless the group attacked major Israeli cities. That leaves the country without an adequate answer to Hezbollah attacks on smaller communities in northern Israel, he said. “We’re refraining from using the only offensive tool we have to deter the enemy,” he said. Israeli airstrikes pummeled towns and villages across southern Lebanon on Tuesday, including areas that were not covered by evacuation warnings that the Israeli military had issued hours earlier, according to Lebanon’s state-run news agency. The agency reported that at least nine people were killed in one strike near the southern city of Tyre. Lebanon’s health ministry has not published a casualty toll from the strikes.
Original Source: NYTimes
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