BEIRUT (Dispatches) -- Israeli artillery and warplanes pounded villages across southern Lebanon on Tuesday, dropping phosphorus bombs on a valley and burning homes in a campaign of destruction that residents say has continued unabated despite a disgraceful U.S.-brokered framework agreement signed in June.
Israeli forces shelled the outskirts of Braashit and Hadatha in Bint Jbeil district, struck the outskirts of Zawtar al-Sharqiya and Kafr Tibnit with airstrikes, and dropped phosphorus bombs on Wadi al-Salouqi, according to the Lebanese National News Agency and field reports carried by regional outlets. 
Artillery also hit the Marjeyoun plain and Wadi Zibqin, while explosions were heard in al-Mansouri and Deir Siryan. In Zawtar al-Sharqiya, Israeli forces set several homes ablaze, the reports said.
The attacks came despite a U.S.-mediated framework agreement signed in June that was supposed to include a gradual deployment of the Lebanese Army and a withdrawal of Israeli forces. 
Instead, UNIFIL has counted nearly 30 Israeli military positions across south Lebanon, including eight fortified bases, with three new bases established since March. 
Israel’s terrorist war minister Israel Katz has said forces will remain indefinitely in what he called a “buffer zone,” claiming he received a “green light” from Washington.
Hezbollah insists resistance is the only path. Secretary-General Naim Qassem said in remarks published over the weekend that “even if the matter drags on in Lebanon for days and months, we are victorious because we stood firm”. 
Hezbollah parliamentary bloc member Hassan Fadlallah said Tuesday the resistance is “standing firm, bolstering its strength, and preparing to confront the enemy”. 
Israeli military assessments cited in Lebanese media indicate Hezbollah is rebuilding its arsenal, increasingly relying on guided missiles and fiber-optic drones in preparation for a potential next round.
The Lebanese government, meanwhile, continues to confine its response to diplomatic appeals. Prime Minister Nawaf Salam told UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in New York that Lebanon needs a UN-sponsored international force to remain in the south after UNIFIL’s mandate expires at the end of the year. 
Foreign Minister Youssef Raji has claimed the government “stopped the attacks against Beirut and its suburbs through negotiation,” even as Israeli bombardments continue across the south. 
Fadlallah dismissed the current Lebanese government as holding “very little political weight,” saying its collapse “would not be a cause for regret”.
Approximately 1.5 million Lebanese remain displaced since March, when Israel escalated its campaign.