Israeli military strikes killed at least nine people across Gaza and southern Lebanon on Monday, even as diplomatic efforts to halt the fighting continued on two separate tracks — in Cairo for Gaza and in Washington for Lebanon. The simultaneous escalation has raised fresh doubts about the durability of fragile truce arrangements in both theatres.

In Gaza, an Israeli air strike targeted a group of men gathered outside a school in Deir el-Balah, a town in central Gaza, killing at least three people. Medics received the bodies at Al-Aqsa Hospital, where relatives gathered to grieve. "This isn't a truce; it's a trap for our young men. Every day there are martyrs, every single day," said one female relative of a victim. The killings came during a ceasefire that has been in effect since October, brokered with US involvement following two years of conflict. More than 750 Palestinians have been killed since that agreement took hold, while Hamas fighters have killed four Israeli soldiers. Each side has accused the other of violations. In the occupied West Bank, Israeli forces simultaneously conducted overnight raids across multiple cities, arresting at least 30 Palestinians — including two children and some previously released detainees — in operations that also involved home searches and property damage.

In southern Lebanon, at least six people were killed in a series of Israeli air strikes and artillery barrages. Among the most striking incidents was a strike on a facility belonging to the International Committee of the Red Cross in Tyre, a coastal city in the south, which killed one person and damaged several Red Cross vehicles — raising urgent concerns about the protection of humanitarian workers and access to civilians. Separately, strikes hit the towns of Bazouriyeh, Nabatiyeh El Faouqa, Sir el Gharbiyeh, and Choukine. The Israeli military announced that its forces have encircled Bint Jbeil, a symbolic town roughly five kilometres from the Israeli border that saw fierce fighting during the 2006 war, and are preparing to take full operational control within days. Hezbollah, the Iran-backed armed group, confirmed it has been engaged in sustained urban combat there.

Diplomatic efforts are proceeding in parallel, though with limited optimism. In Cairo, leaders from Hamas and other Palestinian factions met mediators from Egypt, Turkey, and Qatar to discuss the second phase of the Gaza truce. A central sticking point is Hamas's disarmament — a condition demanded by a US-backed plan put forward by President Donald Trump, under which Hamas would gradually lay down its arms over eight months in exchange for a US-supervised Palestinian technocratic authority taking over governance of Gaza. Hamas has insisted that any disarmament discussions can only begin after Israel fully complies with the first phase of the deal. Israeli military officials, meanwhile, have said they are preparing for a swift return to full-scale operations if no agreement is reached. In Washington, Israeli and Lebanese officials are scheduled to meet on Tuesday at ambassador level — a preliminary session aimed at achieving, at minimum, a pause in hostilities before broader peace negotiations. Lebanon's culture minister acknowledged that Beirut enters the talks with limited leverage.

The dual escalation underscores the extreme fragility of diplomatic progress in the region. With a Red Cross facility struck in Lebanon, mass arrests continuing in the West Bank, and civilians dying daily in Gaza despite a nominal ceasefire, international pressure for a durable halt to hostilities is mounting — even as the parties most capable of delivering one appear deeply at odds over the terms.