The IDF struck approximately 70 military structures and 50 Hezbollah infrastructure sites in southern Lebanon over the weekend, issued displacement orders for nine villages, and warned residents to evacuate before strikes — all while Lebanon’s declared ceasefire nominally remained in effect. Twelve people were killed in Israeli strikes on Friday according to Lebanon’s Health Ministry. Israel claims it has not violated the ceasefire; Lebanon’s government called what occurred a war crime. Hezbollah has announced pauses and resumed operations across the ceasefire period. The gap between the declared status of the ceasefire and what intelligence collection is observing on the ground is now the defining feature of the Lebanese theater.

Lebanon is one of the most important reasons the ceasefire remains contested. The CRS brief says Israeli military operations continued there as of April 9, even as the broader U.S.-Iran ceasefire was announced. That means the ceasefire did not immediately stop violence in all theaters linked to the conflict, and the disagreement over scope could undermine the entire arrangement.

The report describes a sharp public split over whether the ceasefire includes Lebanon. Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif wrote that the agreement would apply everywhere, including Lebanon, while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the two-week ceasefire did not include Lebanon. Vice President Vance called this a “legitimate misunderstanding,” but the practical consequence is the same: different parties are acting as if the agreement means different things.