OAN Staff Jenna Lee
12:42 PM – Saturday, June 6, 2026
Beirut’s military announced that an Israeli strike on a vehicle in southern Lebanon has killed three troops, just days after the two countries agreed to a conditional deal during talks in the United States.
Saturday’s announcement came after Israel launched an operation into Lebanon to remove the Tehran-backed armed group Hezbollah, which pulled Lebanon into the broader Middle East conflict by launching missiles on behalf of its sponsor, Iran.
“The continued, deliberate, and repeated Israeli aggression against Lebanon, its people and its army only strengthens our resolve, faith and determination,” said the Lebanese army in a statement.
The three casualties — two officers and a soldier — were killed in a strike on a military vehicle traveling between Khardali and Nabatieh.
According to the Israeli military, the vehicle was moving suspiciously inside an active combat zone, an area that had been evacuated ahead of operations. The Israeli army maintained that it operates against the Hezbollah terrorist organization, not against the sovereign Lebanese army.
Hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah originally intensified when Hezbollah launched rockets and drones at Israel, claiming retaliation for the killing of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei at the start of the U.S.-Israeli military campaign against Iran in February. In response, Israel struck Hezbollah hotbeds in Lebanon and Beirut.
A ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah initially took effect on April 17th, but was never fully respected as Hezbollah rejected proposals linking a truce to its disarmament. The militant group demanded instead that Israel stop its attacks and withdraw its troops.
The conditional truce announced by the Lebanese and Israeli envoys this week in Washington, D.C., requires that Hezbollah stop firing, withdraw from near the Israeli border and have Lebanon’s army deploy new “pilot zones” in the area.
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun strongly denounced the latest attack, calling it a “flagrant violation of Lebanese sovereignty … despite Lebanon’s efforts in the Washington negotiations to put an end to the continued Israeli aggression that goes unchecked.”
Turning his criticism towards Tehran’s influence over the conflict, Aoun added, “It’s not your country, it’s our country. It’s not your job to interfere into our country. They are using Lebanon as a bargaining chip in their negotiation with the United States. It’s unacceptable. The majority of the Lebanese people are fed up with war.”
Israel and Lebanon agreed to reconvene with the U.S. mediating during the week of June 22nd to reach a more comprehensive agreement, though that agreement may be in question after Saturday’s development.
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