ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – Israel and Hezbollah agreed to renew a ceasefire starting Friday following heavy exchanges of fire between the two sides, with the truce being reached after Washington and Doha's mediation as Lebanon remains one of the main pillars of the newly signed US-Iran peace deal.

“Israel and Hezbollah have agreed to a renewed ceasefire in Lebanon starting at 4pm Iocal time,” senior Axios reporter Barak Ravid reported, citing a senior US official, with the agreement being brokered “by the US and Qatar after talks with Israel and Iran.”

Ravid subsequently reported that the White House told him that they have received assurances from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's commitment to ending hostilities, though no official statement has been made by his office at the time of writing.

AFP and regional outlets later confirmed the oft-broken truce's renewal.

The developments followed a period of heavy exchanges of fire between Hezbollah and Israel, with Lebanon’s Health Ministry saying at least 47 people were killed Friday in Israeli strikes. The Israeli military said four of its soldiers were killed in combat with Hezbollah the previous night.

Soon after, Iran’s Foreign Ministry expressed Tehran’s strong condemnation of the attacks on southern Lebanon, as Iran and the US reached an agreement earlier Thursday committing to a total ceasefire across all parts, with Lebanon standing as one of its main pillars.

The ministry’s spokesperson, Esmail Baghaei, accused the US of being in “direct responsibility” for the aggression in southern Lebanon, citing the first paragraph of the memorandum of understanding signed with Washington that indicates stopping the war on all fronts.

“The Islamic Republic of Iran will take all necessary measures to protect its interests, security, and rights and those of its allies,” he said.

As tensions seemed to be escalating between the US and Iran once again over renewed attacks on Lebanon, far-right Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir’s Friday statements once again drew reactions from Tehran.

“For every tear of an Israeli mother, a thousand Lebanese mothers should cry. All of Lebanon should burn!” Ben-Gvir wrote on X.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi responded to the comments, calling the statement a “genocidal death cult headquartered in Tel Aviv” and saying it is “a threat to all of humanity.”

“It threatens all humans. Its only interest is permanent war.”

“This is not a rant by a random genocidal lunatic,” Araghchi wrote on X. “It's a public post by the national security minister of the Israeli regime.”

The latest casualties between Lebanon and Israel mark the deadliest escalation since the US and Iran reached an agreement early Monday to cease hostilities on all fronts, including in Lebanon. US President Donald Trump and his Iranian counterpart Masoud Pezeshkian signed the accord on Thursday.