Israel and Hezbollah agree to renew ceasefire after flareup of violence

Smoke billows after an Israeli strike on Nabatieh in southern Lebanon. Photograph: Reuters View image in fullscreen Smoke billows after an Israeli strike on Nabatieh in southern Lebanon. Photograph: Reuters Israel and Hezbollah agree to renew ceasefire after flareup of violence US-Iran meeting in Switzerland over implementation of deal cancelled amid clashes in southern Lebanon Middle East crisis – live updates Israel and Hezbollah agreed to renew a fragile ceasefire in Lebanon on Friday after 24 hours of intense violence that posed an early challenge to the new agreement between the US and Iran to end their conflict. A meeting due to take place on Friday between the US and Iran in Switzerland to discuss implementation of the new deal was cancelled when Hezbollah killed four Israeli soldiers and Israel carried out a wave of retaliatory airstrikes in southern Lebanon and the Bekaa valley that killed at least 47 people. The talks had been due to begin in the Swiss village of Obbürgen two days after the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) that opened a 60-day window to negotiate a permanent understanding over Iran’s nuclear programme, while getting oil traffic moving through the strait of Hormuz. The MoU called for an end to hostilities on all fronts, including in Lebanon . On Friday, Iran’s chief negotiator, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, warned against any breach of the agreement, threatening a “decisive response … to the enemy”. The flaring violence and diplomatic back-and-forth over the planned talks added to the uncertainty over ​whether a definitive end could be found to a regional war that has killed at least ‌7,000 people, sent energy prices soaring and threatened global economic chaos. Inside the city of grief hit hardest by Israel strikes on southern Lebanon Read more Donald Trump again defended the deal after criticism in Washington, including from some of his Republican allies in Congress who have questioned whether he conceded too much to end a war unpopular with most Americans before November’s midterm elections. “The War has diminished Iran!” he wrote in social media posts on Friday, adding: “We didn’t meet out of desperation, Iran did. They are FINISHED! We’ll play out the 60 days. They get no money, not ten cents!” Lebanon has emerged as a flashpoint that could upend Trump’s efforts to extricate the US from the war, frustrating the president, who has lashed out at Israel and its prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu. View image in fullscreen A displaced family in Sidon, Lebanon, flee Israeli strikes in the south of the country. Photograph: Mohammed Zaatari/AP The new clashes between Israel and Hezbollah, which has close ties with Tehran, were the most violent since the ceasefire was established. Hezbollah targeted Israeli forces near the city of Nabatieh, in southern Lebanon, with several salvoes of rocket fire and drones overnight after intermittent Israeli shelling throughout Thursday. Israel responded with a wave of airstrikes