Israel ramps up Lebanon strikes

Israel continued airstrikes in southern Lebanon this month despite a ceasefire extension announced with U.S. backing, according to regional reporting and diplomatic statements. Hamas, meanwhile, accused Israel of voiding key parts of the October 2025 Gaza agreement by failing to deliver reconstruction steps and by keeping the Rafah crossing shut. In Gaza, farmers told The National that the war had wiped out the enclave’s flower trade, once a seasonal export business. Together, the developments show how ceasefire arrangements on paper have not produced stable conditions on the ground. ### Why are Israeli strikes in Lebanon still continuing if there is a ceasefire? On May 15, the United States announced that Israel and Lebanon had agreed to extend a ceasefire and broaden talks on a political settlement, even as Israeli strikes continued. Al-Monitor, citing AFP reporting, said Israel argued that operations against Hezbollah were not covered by the truce terms. (al-monitor.com) Southern Lebanon remained under fire after that announcement. Al Jazeera, citing AFP, reported on May 16 that Israeli aircraft struck the Tyre district a day after the extension was announced, and Lebanon’s state news agency said the attacks killed a woman, her son and a paramedic in Tayr Falsayh. A British government country bulletin published in May said the Israel Defense Forces had struck more than 3,500 Hezbollah targets by April 6, mainly in Beirut’s southern suburbs, southern Lebanon and the Bekaa Valley. (al-monitor.com) The same bulletin said senior U.S. and Israeli officials had stated that Lebanon was not part of the separate U.S.-Iran ceasefire announced on April 7. (aljazeera.com) ### What is Hamas saying Israel broke in Gaza? Hamas said Israel had overturned the October 2025 Gaza agreement by failing to carry out reconstruction commitments and by keeping Rafah closed, according to Palestine Chronicle’s May 2026 report. The group rejected a proposal attributed to former U.N. envoy Nickolay Mladenov and said the existing agreement should be implemented instead. (gov.uk) Rafah has been a recurring point of dispute since the October deal. Reuters reported in October 2025 that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the crossing would remain closed until further notice and tied any reopening to Hamas handing over bodies of deceased hostages. An April 10 Al Jazeera explainer said attacks had continued and aid remained insufficient six months after the October 2025 agreement. (palestinechronicle.com) That report described the arrangement as a ceasefire in name but not in practice, with reconstruction and access still constrained. ### How much of Gaza’s agricultural economy has been destroyed? Gaza’s agricultural base has suffered extensive damage beyond food crops. (gmanetwork.com) The National reported on May 24 that flower growers said no fields or greenhouses remained for trade, wiping out an industry that had supplied roses and carnations and provided income for farming families. (aljazeera.com) The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization said in November 2025 that more than a third of Gaza’s cropland had become accessible after a ceasefire period, but damage to cropland, greenhouses and agricultural wells had increased. FAO and UNOSAT have separately tracked thousands of damaged or destroyed greenhouses in Gaza since the war began. (thenationalnews.com) A May 2025 Al Jazeera report, citing the United Nations, said more than 95% of Gaza’s agricultural land was unusable. That assessment said attacks on land, wells and greenhouses had compounded the risk of famine and deepened the collapse of rural livelihoods. ### What does that mean for civilians right now? U.N. humanitarian reporting from May said aid movement into Gaza remained constrained and that only one in every two aid trucks from Egypt had been able to offload at Israeli-controlled crossings in the first 11 days of the month. (fao.org) The report also said repeated displacement and movement restrictions were continuing to disrupt daily life. (aljazeera.com) In Lebanon, the continuing strikes have kept southern communities exposed even during negotiations. In Gaza, the dispute over Rafah and reconstruction has left recovery tied to unresolved political conditions, according to the parties’ own public statements and humanitarian reporting. ### What should readers watch next? The next concrete markers are the U.S.-backed Israel-Lebanon talks that were expanded with the May 15 ceasefire extension, and any formal decision on Rafah access in Gaza. (ochaopt.org) Public updates from U.S. mediators, Israeli officials, Lebanese officials and Hamas are likely to determine whether either track moves from temporary arrangements to implementation. (al-monitor.com)