Watch the sky of the occupied territories tonight.
A hundred days of uneasy quiet ended on a Sunday when Israeli strikes on Beirut's southern suburbs drew ballistic missiles from Iran — the most serious exchange since April and a reminder that ceasefires, however long they hold, are not the same as peace. The escalation arrived at a moment when American diplomacy claimed to be on the verge of a breakthrough, exposing the distance between negotiating tables in Washington and the realities of rubble-strewn streets in Beirut and sirens over northern Israel. What unfolds next will test whether the architecture of restraint can be rebuilt, or whether the logic of retaliation, older than any of the current actors, will once again prevail.
- Israel's strikes on a Hezbollah stronghold in Beirut killed two and wounded eleven, shattering a ceasefire that had held for a hundred days and immediately triggering Iranian retaliation.
- Iran's Revolutionary Guard launched roughly ten ballistic missiles at northern Israel within hours, framing the attack not as a one-time response but as the opening of a week-long campaign of continuous strikes.
- Trump intervened directly, calling Netanyahu to urge restraint and insisting a US-Iran nuclear deal was days away — while warning that Israeli retaliation would doom diplomacy and simply extend a cycle measured in millennia.
- The structural fault line remains exposed: Hezbollah, the party actually fighting, is absent from all negotiations, and has already rejected ceasefire terms that do not include full Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon.
- The violence spread beyond the main front — Israeli strikes killed nine in Gaza, two Lebanese soldiers died Saturday, and a shooting inside Israel added to a picture of a region straining at every seam.
The hundred days of fragile quiet ended on a Sunday morning when Israeli warplanes struck apartment buildings in Dahieh, the Hezbollah stronghold in Beirut's southern suburbs. Two people were killed and eleven wounded. Before the dust had settled, Iran's parliament spokesperson posted a warning online: watch the sky over the occupied territories tonight.
By evening, sirens were sounding across northern Israel. The Iranian Revolutionary Guard had launched approximately ten ballistic missiles. The IDF reported all were intercepted or landed in open areas without casualties — but the message was clear. The ceasefire that had held since April was over.
President Trump, watching closely, called Netanyahu and urged him not to retaliate, saying a US-Iran agreement was days from being signed. He told Fox News he was 'not happy' about the Beirut strikes and warned that escalation would undo months of diplomatic work. To Axios, he was blunter still: hitting back would mean the conflict just keeps going, as it has for decades or centuries.
Iran was not finished. The Revolutionary Guard declared the missile launch the beginning of a full week of continuous strikes — waves of missiles and drones around the clock until Israel was deterred. Iran's parliament speaker went further, declaring American military assets in the region legitimate targets.
The conflict, which began in March after Hezbollah fired rockets following the killing of Iran's supreme leader, had already killed more than 3,600 people in Lebanon and emptied entire cities in the south. On Sunday, Israel issued evacuation orders for most of Tyre, already sheltering thousands of displaced residents, as smoke rose from fresh strikes.
The deeper problem was structural. Hezbollah — the party actually fighting — was not part of the Washington negotiations between Israel and the Lebanese government. It had recently rejected a ceasefire proposal, insisting any deal require full Israeli withdrawal from Lebanese territory. The Lebanese army, caught between the parties, had lost soldiers to Israeli strikes the day before.
Trump's confidence in an imminent deal sat uneasily alongside the facts on the ground. He told NBC he was not demanding Lebanon be included in any Iran agreement, even as Tehran insisted otherwise. Britain's foreign secretary called for restraint. Meanwhile, Israeli strikes in Gaza killed at least nine more people, and a shooting at a petrol station inside Israel added to the day's toll.
As night fell, Iran had promised seven more days of strikes, Trump was urging calm, and Hezbollah remained outside the room where any agreement would have to be made.
The fragile quiet that had held the region for a hundred days shattered on Sunday when Israel struck apartment buildings in Beirut's southern suburbs, a Hezbollah stronghold known as Dahieh. Two people died in the strikes. Eleven more were wounded. The rubble scattered across the streets sent residents fleeing in panic, unsure whether more bombs would follow.
They did not have to wait long for a response. Within hours, Iran's parliament spokesperson Ebrahim Rezaei posted a warning on social media: "We will give a decisive and painful response to the Zionist regime's attack on the suburbs. Watch the sky of the occupied territories tonight." By evening, sirens wailed across northern Israel. The Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps had launched approximately ten ballistic missiles toward Israeli territory. The Israeli Defense Forces said they intercepted all of them, or that they struck open areas with no casualties reported. But the message was unmistakable: the ceasefire that had held since April was over.
The escalation caught the attention of President Donald Trump, who was watching developments closely and did not like what he saw. He called Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and told him not to strike back, saying the Israeli response would harm negotiations with Tehran that Trump claimed were nearly complete. "We're very close," Trump told Fox News. "I would say an agreement would be signed on Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday of this coming week." He added that he was "not happy" about Israel's strikes on Beirut and that the whole situation would "not help" the diplomatic effort. To Axios, Trump was more blunt: if Netanyahu retaliated, "it's just gonna keep going like the last 47 years, or last 3000 years."
But Iran was not finished. The Revolutionary Guard issued a statement that reframed the missile attack not as a single response but as the opening salvo of a sustained campaign. "This operation is not a passing event, but rather the beginning of a full week of continuous strikes," the statement read. "Waves of missiles and drones will continue to be launched around the clock for the next seven days until the enemy is deterred and ceases its crimes." Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, the speaker of Iran's parliament and its chief negotiator, went further, declaring that American military bases and assets in the region had become "legitimate targets" in response to the Israeli strike.
The conflict that had begun on March 2, when Hezbollah fired rockets at Israel in retaliation for the killing of Iran's supreme leader Ali Khamenei, had already exacted a staggering toll. Israeli strikes had killed more than 3,613 people in Lebanon. Hezbollah had killed at least thirty Israeli soldiers in Lebanon and three Israeli civilians. Entire cities in southern Lebanon had been emptied. On Sunday itself, Israel issued evacuation orders for most of Tyre, one of the largest cities in the south, which was already sheltering thousands of people displaced from surrounding villages. Plumes of smoke rose from the city as Israeli warplanes struck.
The ceasefire that had supposedly taken hold in April had always been fragile. Last week, Tehran had warned that any Israeli attack on Beirut would be treated as a violation of the agreement and would trigger a response. Yet the deeper problem was structural: Hezbollah, the party actually fighting Israel, was not participating in the negotiations happening in Washington between the Lebanese government and Israel. Hezbollah had recently rejected a ceasefire proposal, insisting that any deal must include an Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon and an end to strikes across the entire country, not just in Beirut. The Lebanese army, caught in the middle, had already suffered casualties—on Saturday, Israeli strikes killed two soldiers and an army captain.
Trump's confidence that a deal was imminent seemed at odds with the reality on the ground. He told NBC News he was not demanding that Lebanon be included in any Iran agreement, even as Tehran insisted it be part of a broader settlement. He also added a threat: "We're very close to a deal, or I'm going to blow the hell out of them." Britain's Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper called for restraint and de-escalation, warning that renewed conflict served no one's interests.
Meanwhile, the violence was not confined to the Lebanese-Israeli border. In Gaza, where a truce brokered last October had largely failed to stop military operations, Israeli strikes on Sunday killed at least nine people and wounded twenty. One strike hit a police station adjacent to a tent encampment of displaced families in Khan Younis, killing five and wounding sixteen. And inside Israel itself, an Arab Israeli gunman opened fire at a petrol station near Kokhav Yair, killing one person and wounding five before being shot dead by police. The shooter, identified as a resident of the Palestinian city of Taybeh, had an accomplice who was arrested after allegedly attempting to stab responding officers. The attack came amid a surge in settler violence against Palestinian communities and deepening tensions across the occupied West Bank.
As Sunday night fell, Israelis braced for what might come next. Iran had promised a week of strikes. Trump was urging restraint. Hezbollah remained outside the negotiating room. The ceasefire that had lasted a hundred days was now measured in hours.
Notable Quotes
We will give a decisive and painful response to the Zionist regime's attack on the suburbs. Watch the sky of the occupied territories tonight.— Ebrahim Rezaei, Iranian parliament spokesperson
We're very close. I would say an agreement would be signed on Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday of this coming week. And now this takes place.— President Donald Trump, on the impact of Israel's strikes on Iran negotiations
The Hearth Conversation Another angle on the story
Why did Israel strike Beirut on Sunday when there was supposedly a ceasefire in place?
The ceasefire was always conditional and fragile. Israel said it was responding to Hezbollah rocket fire on northern Israel that morning, though Hezbollah didn't claim responsibility. But the deeper issue is that Hezbollah and Iran had warned last week that any Israeli attack on Beirut specifically would be treated as a ceasefire violation. Israel struck anyway.
And Trump's response—he seemed almost angry at Netanyahu.
Trump was focused on a deal with Iran that he believed was days away from being signed. He saw the Beirut strike as sabotage to his own negotiating position. He told Netanyahu not to retaliate, but he also seemed to be signaling to Iran that he understood their grievance. It's a strange position for a US president to take.
What does Iran's promise of a week of continuous strikes actually mean?
It's a threat, but it's also a way of managing escalation. By announcing seven days of strikes in advance, Iran is giving the US and Israel a window to negotiate before things spiral further. It's a signal that they're serious but also that there's still room for diplomacy.
But Hezbollah isn't even at the negotiating table.
That's the structural problem. The Lebanese government is negotiating with Israel in Washington, but Hezbollah—the actual fighting force—has rejected the ceasefire proposal and is making its own demands. So any deal Trump thinks he's close to might not hold because the party doing the fighting isn't part of the agreement.
How many people have actually died in this conflict?
More than 3,600 in Lebanon alone. Entire cities have been emptied. On Sunday, Israel ordered the evacuation of Tyre, one of the largest cities in the south. The human displacement is enormous and ongoing.