Hezbollah resumed its rocket fire days after Israel and the United States launched their surprise attack on Iran on Feb. 28. Before then, Israel had regularly carried out strikes in Lebanon against what it said were militant targets, often killing civilians, despite an earlier truce reached in 2024.

In the southern city of Sidon, many residents reacted to the ceasefire announcement with skepticism, saying previous agreements had failed to stop the violence.

An Israeli strike in southern Lebanon killed a paramedic, the state-run National News Agency reported late Wednesday after three other strikes targeted paramedics in south Lebanon in the same day.

The strike on a team from the Hezbollah-affiliated Islamic Health Committee in Zebdine killed a paramedic and wounded another.

The Israeli army carried out airstrikes in south Lebanon on Thursday, hours after Israel and Lebanon agreed to implement a ceasefire.

An Israeli airstrike targeted a vehicle on the Zefta road, while other strikes targeted Kfartebnit, Shehour, Bestat, Kfar Remman, Tebnine, Maaroub, Zawtar, Shoukin, Kafra, Zebdine, Baraashit, Srifa, Harees, Qana, Toul, Harouf, Mayfadoun, Dweir, Deir al-Zahrani, Beit Yahoun, Maarakeh, Adshit, Kfarjoz and al-Mansouri.

Lebanon and Israel agreed early Thursday to "the implementation of a ceasefire."

Below is the full text of a joint statement issued by the U.S., Lebanon and Israel after two days of talks in Washington:

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi warned on Wednesday that any attack on Lebanese capital Beirut would trigger a "full-scale resumption" of the Middle East war, as Israel pressed its campaign against Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.

"Any attack on Beirut will have grave consequences and will lead to a full-scale resumption of the war," the Tasnim news agency quoted Araghchi as telling Lebanon's Al Mayadeen TV. "Our armed forces are ready to strike Israel if it attacks Beirut."

U.S. Secretary of State said Wednesday that he hopes the latest round of high-level political talks between Israel and Lebanon will result in a joint statement on ending hostilities.

In testimony before lawmakers that started Wednesday shortly after the Israeli and Lebanese ambassadors to the U.S. began meeting at the State Department for a second day of negotiations, Rubio said the aim of the talks is to "produce a joint statement and an action plan on a track for security in that country, independent from Hezbollah, independent from nefarious influence."

A Lebanese official confirmed to Al-Jazeera on Wednesday that Lebanese-Israeli discussions in the Washington round of negotiations are progressing well and that there is "U.S. understanding of the Lebanese approach."

The source added that the Lebanese delegation is pushing for a comprehensive solution that addresses both the Israeli withdrawal and the extension of state authority in parallel.

The State Department said progress was made during the first day of talks between Lebanon and Israel in Washington on Tuesday.

"Progress continues on the political and security tracks as we break from the failures of the past 20 years and advance toward a comprehensive agreement aimed at restoring Lebanon’s sovereignty and ensuring Israel's security," the State Department said, adding that "the United States remains fully committed to facilitating these historic negotiations."

Israel warned overnight the Christian neighborhoods in the coastal city of Tyre that Hezbollah members are among them.

Many Lebanese Shiite Muslims fled to those areas in recent days because they were spared from the aerial bombardment along the Mediterranean coast.

President Joseph Aoun condemned Wednesday Iranian attacks on "civilian targets" in Kuwait and Bahrain.

The attack on Kuwait's airport wounded at least 63 people and killed an Indian national.