SCOTT SIMON, HOST:
Iran's Joint Military Command said today that the Strait of Hormuz is closed once again over continued Israeli attacks on Hezbollah in Lebanon. This came after Israeli airstrikes today killed at least 16 people in Lebanon, including 10 women and children and a Lebanese army soldier, according to government and local officials. President Trump told NBC he demanded a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, which was announced on Friday. And we should note that a U.S. team arrived in Switzerland today to pursue a more substantial deal. It remains unclear if the Iranian negotiating team will meet them there. NPR's Jane Arraf joins us from Beirut. Jane, thanks for being with us.
JANE ARRAF, BYLINE: Thank you, Scott.
SIMON: Strait of Hormuz is closed again, and the ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah is not holding. What's going on?
ARRAF: Iran is now saying that it was Washington's job to ensure Israel adhered to the ceasefire in Lebanon, and it's saying that Washington did not fulfill that commitment, and it calls it a violation of the understanding it had with the United States. Iran further says that calls the entire agreement, including opening the Strait of Hormuz, into question. That's after Israeli attacks Friday and Saturday. Those attacks were in the Beqaa Valley in the east, but mostly in southern Lebanon, where Israeli forces have invaded and are trying to take more territory. Hezbollah is fighting back. Israeli airstrikes on Friday killed at least 55 people, including 12 children, according to state media and local officials. And Hezbollah attacks on advancing forces inside Lebanon killed for Israeli soldiers, so not much of a ceasefire.
SIMON: A preliminary agreement President Trump signed Wednesday with Iran explicitly includes Lebanon in the ceasefire, but as you've reported, it hasn't really been fully enforced. Where does that leave the wider agreement with Iran?
ARRAF: Well, as we've seen, Israel believes it's not bound by that wider agreement which calls for ensuring Lebanon's sovereignty and territorial integrity. In fact, Defense Minister Israel Katz said the Israeli military is destroying Lebanese border villages, including infrastructure, making it impossible for 200,000 residents to return. And Israeli troops are trying to take a strategic Hezbollah position deeper into Lebanon. Hezbollah has been attacking Israeli tanks and troops to prevent that advance.
SIMON: Earlier this week you were in Nabatieh, still a center of fighting. What's life like there?
ARRAF: There is an awful lot of destruction, including downtown in the historic Ottoman-era market, hundreds of years old. All of that was heavily damaged.
(SOUNDBITE OF CLANGING)
ARRAF: We met one of the town residents, Najib Bayad (ph), a little further into the city. He was returning briefly to see the damage to his apartment. So a part of the building had collapsed and there was so much rubble, it was difficult to get through the door even. There was the sound of artillery in the distance. You could see smoke rising. And inside all the glass had been blown out, including the balcony doors.
NAJIB BAYAD: (Non-English language spoken).
ARRAF: He's saying, "you see that castle? See what it looks like?" He says, "the Israelis are still there." And from his balcony, you can see the Beaufort Castle. It's a Crusader-era fortress on a strategic hill that's now occupied by Israeli forces.
BAYAD: (Non-English language spoken).
ARRAF: So he said that as long as Israeli forces are that close, he could never move back. There are now more than 1 million people displaced in Lebanon. Some had tried to return, but recent fighting has driven them out again.
SIMON: NPR's Jane Arraf in Beirut. Thanks so much.
ARRAF: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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