Israeli military operations in Lebanon intensified on Sunday, with the Israel Defense Forces reporting new ground movements in the Bekaa Valley and southern border districts as the cumulative death toll from the campaign that began March 2 climbed past 2,680, according to Lebanese health ministry figures. The IDF described the operations as targeting Hezbollah weapons infrastructure and command nodes identified through recent intelligence assessments.
The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) issued an urgent statement calling on all parties to respect the safety of peacekeepers and civilian populations, noting that several villages in the Tyre district had been evacuated in the preceding 24 hours. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) warned that displacement figures now exceed 400,000 people, straining shelter capacity in Beirut and the Bekaa region.
The Lebanese government's caretaker prime minister convened an emergency cabinet session in Beirut on Sunday morning, appealing to the Arab League and the European Union for accelerated diplomatic intervention. France, which maintains close ties with Lebanon, confirmed its foreign minister would travel to the region early next week for consultations with Lebanese officials and regional counterparts in Jordan and Egypt.
In Washington, State Department spokesperson confirmed that the administration is monitoring the escalation closely but stopped short of calling for an immediate ceasefire. The development complicates ongoing US diplomatic signaling toward Iran, as the naval blockade continues to generate tension across the broader Middle East. Regional analysts noted that Hezbollah's reduced operational capacity has not deterred Israeli commanders from pressing what appears to be a longer-term strategic campaign.
Human rights organisations including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch called for an independent investigation into reported strikes on residential infrastructure in the Nabatieh governorate. With no ceasefire framework currently on the table at the UN Security Council, and US-Iran tensions running high, international observers expressed limited optimism that hostilities would de-escalate in the near term.