Israel and Hezbollah Mount New Attacks Amid Cease-Fire Talks

Rockets flew on both sides of the Israel-Lebanon border even as diplomats tried to finalize a truce.

Israel and Hezbollah continued their heavy exchange of fire on Monday, causing many schools to close on both sides of the Israel-Lebanon border, even as officials signaled that the two sides appeared to be nearing the first cease-fire since their conflict began last year.

The Israeli military said it had struck several command centers belonging to Hezbollah, the Lebanese militia, south of Beirut on Monday morning. At the same time, in parts of northern Israel, residents scrambled to shelters as a new round of sirens announced at least 20 incoming projectiles from Lebanon. Israeli officials said at least some had been intercepted by Israeli missiles.

At least seven people in Lebanon were injured in Israeli strikes on Monday, according to Lebanese state news media. In northern Israel, officials said that a 60-year-old man had been hurt in an attack from Lebanon.

The latest strikes came a day after some of the heaviest aerial attacks in months in both countries.

Israeli officials said Hezbollah had fired at least 250 projectiles, a term it often uses for rockets, into Israel on Sunday, including many toward Tel Aviv, causing at least 13 injuries. In Lebanon, Israeli forces issued a series of sweeping evacuation orders for the area south of Beirut on Sunday night before striking what they said were a dozen Hezbollah command centers. There were no immediate reports of casualties in those strikes.

Analysts have said the intense attacks suggest that both Israel and Hezbollah are trying to maximize their leverage as diplomats conduct what they hope is a final round of cease-fire talks. Amos Hochstein, a top American envoy, traveled to Lebanon and Israel last week to move talks ahead. Over the weekend, Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III spoke with his Israeli counterpart, Israel Katz, to push for a resolution that allows Israeli and Lebanese residents near the border to return to homes they fled because of the strikes.

Both Israeli and Hezbollah officials have suggested that a deal to pause the fighting may be as close as it has been since Hezbollah began firing rockets at Israel 13 months ago in solidarity with Hamas in Gaza.

The two sides have said little publicly about the details of the proposed agreement. The New York Times reported on Friday that the terms included a 60-day truce during which Israeli forces and Hezbollah fighters pull back from border areas and the Lebanese Army and a United Nations peacekeeping force increase their presence in a buffer zone.

But officials have also warned that the two sides may not be able to finalize a deal, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel has faced pressure from right-wing allies not to end the military campaign. Israel’s hard-line national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, said in a social media post on Monday that the proposed deal would be a “historic missed opportunity to eradicate Hezbollah.”

“As I warned before in Gaza, I warn now as well: Mr. Prime Minister, it is not too late to stop this agreement!” he added. “We must continue until absolute victory!”

On Monday, Lebanon suspended school in Beirut and surrounding areas, citing the threat of Israeli strikes, while schools in several northern Israel communities switched to remote classes because of Hezbollah rocket fire.

Here are other developments:

• Rabbi killing: The authorities in the United Arab Emirates named the three men they arrested in the killing of an Israeli rabbi last week, saying they were Uzbek nationals aged 28 to 33. Israeli officials have called the killing an antisemitic act of terrorism. The Emirati government has referred to the rabbi, Zvi Kogan, who held dual Israeli and Moldovan citizenship, as a Moldovan national.
• Gaza hostage: Israel said it was investigating images released by Hamas over the weekend that the group said showed the body of a woman taken hostage during the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks on Israel. About 100 hostages, including some who Israel believes have died, remain unaccounted for in Gaza.