Residents of southern Lebanon survey the ruins of their homes [EPA=Yonhap News]

With the US and Iran agreeing on a roadmap for a ceasefire, the fiercest proxy war of this conflict, the clashes between Israel and the pro-Iranian armed group Hezbollah in Lebanon, have also entered a phase of temporary de-escalation.

According to Reuters and other news agencies, on the 15th (local time), the day the US and Iran agreed on a ceasefire, an Israeli drone attacked a vehicle in Kfar Tebnit, southern Lebanon, killing the driver. Lebanon's state-run NNA news agency reported this as the first reported death in Lebanon since the ceasefire announcement.

Hezbollah also stated in a statement that day that it had repelled an Israeli military bulldozer and two tanks advancing into the area using rockets and drones.

The Israeli military added that Hezbollah had attacked its forces with rockets and drones, and that it had intercepted the rockets.

Reuters reported that while the southern Lebanon region had regained relative calm after the ceasefire announcement, sporadic conflicts continued as Israeli forces remained stationed in the area.

The clashes between the two sides, triggered by Hezbollah's retaliatory airstrikes on Israel in the early stages of the Iran war, caused the most severe casualties in this war. The Lebanese side estimates that more than 3,700 people have died and over a million refugees have been displaced during this war.

Israeli military vehicles moving through southern Lebanon [AP=Yonhap News]

While the full text of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for the US-Iran ceasefire roadmap has not yet been released, Iranian media reports indicate that Article 1 of the MOU includes a cessation of hostilities on all regional fronts, including Lebanon.

Iran had consistently argued in its ceasefire negotiations with the US that a halt to Israel's attacks on Lebanon must be included in any ceasefire agreement.

US President Donald Trump reportedly pressured Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to refrain from attacks on Lebanon, particularly airstrikes targeting the capital Beirut, due to concerns that ceasefire negotiations might falter.

Following the news of the agreed-upon MOU containing the US-Iran ceasefire roadmap, Hezbollah issued a statement welcoming the agreement but did not fully dismiss its distrust of Israel.

A Hezbollah official told Reuters that their stance on a ceasefire depends on Israel's adherence to the agreement. He explained that postponing the signing of the ceasefire MOU to the 19th was to monitor whether Israel would attack Lebanon.

Israel has stated that it has no intention of withdrawing from its positions in southern Lebanon.

Prime Minister Netanyahu held a press conference at the Prime Minister's Office in Jerusalem that day, stating that Israeli forces would remain in southern Lebanon for as long as necessary, and that he had maintained a firm stance despite Iran's demand for withdrawal.

He added that the Israeli military would maintain 'freedom of action' in Lebanon to thwart Hezbollah attacks.

Experts also believe that Prime Minister Netanyahu will keep his troops in southern Lebanon, considering domestic backlash.

Israel has long considered southern Lebanon, a Hezbollah stronghold bordering its northern region, as its greatest security threat, and hardliners have even argued that occupying the area is the solution, citing self-defense.

Danny Orbach, a military historian at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, told the British newspaper The Guardian that if President Trump forced Israel to withdraw from Lebanon, Netanyahu's political career would end, and that an Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon would negate the lesson that 'one should never retreat from the border when the enemy is trying to destroy you.'