As Israeli warplanes pounded Beirut's southern suburbs last March and residents fled in panic, one man found his opportunity. Amid the chaos, he slipped out of his imprisonment in a Hezbollah cell and made his way to the green hills overlooking the Lebanese capital.

There, in the posh diplomatic quarter of Baabda, he disappeared inside the gates of the Ukrainian Embassy.

President Donald Trump's administration has sought -- with very limited success -- to separate Iran and Lebanon peace talks, while Tehran insists the two are linked, complicating efforts to resolve the intertwined conflicts.

The Iran war began with a joint U.S.-Israeli attack -- though the interests of those two countries' leaders have since diverged -- while Lebanese militant group Hezbollah struck Israel shortly thereafter, sparking a devastating Israeli military response.

The Middle East is bracing for war again. Iran fired missiles at Israel late Sunday in the first such bombardment in the two months since a ceasefire. Israel launched airstrikes early Monday targeting central and western Iran in response.

The truce in the Iran war that was reached in April has not spread to Lebanon, where Israel has been battling Iranian-backed Hezbollah militants. Israel says it is defending its northern communities that face Hezbollah drone and rocket fire.

Israel's latest strikes on Lebanon and Iran have made clear that U.S. President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who started the war in lockstep, want different things.

Trump had publicly warned Israel not to strike Beirut. When it did, on Sunday, Iran responded by firing ballistic missiles at Israel for the first time since the April ceasefire. Israel then struck Iran, with which Trump has been engaged in weeks of high-stakes negotiations.

Israel and Lebanon have agreed to implement a ceasefire that would require Hezbollah to stop firing, withdraw from near the border and would see Lebanon's army deploy in new "pilot zones" in the area.

The Iran-backed group has rejected the proposed arrangement, instead demanding a comprehensive ceasefire and the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Lebanon.

Israel and Lebanon have agreed to renew their shaky ceasefire, with an aim to continue talks later this month for a comprehensive peace deal.

The U.S.-brokered agreement, announced in a joint statement by the U.S., Israel and Lebanon Wednesday, comes after Israeli forces made their deepest incursion into Lebanon in more than a quarter century.

In a south Lebanon hospital heavily damaged by deadly Israeli strikes nearby, Dr Nasser al-Masri held a new-born baby, calling him "a message of life and hope" despite the war.

Ceasefires have been announced, often to great fanfare, in Gaza, Lebanon and Iran. So why is there still so much fighting?

In just the last few weeks, Israeli forces have captured more territory in Gaza and killed two top Hamas militants there, as well as more than a dozen other people. In Lebanon, Israeli troops captured a Crusader fortress over the weekend in their deepest incursion in 26 years, as Hezbollah kept up rocket fire into northern Israel.

Israel has portrayed the capture of a Crusader-era fortress as a turning point in its offensive against Hezbollah, but the operation has also sparked fears of a new quagmire in south Lebanon.

Israeli authorities praised the symbolism of the capture of Beaufort, perched atop a rocky outcrop, as they announced its capture in an assault documented by military drones.

Israeli forces are making their deepest incursion inside Lebanon since they withdrew from the country over a quarter-century ago, despite a nominal U.S.-brokered ceasefire and the first direct talks between the countries in decades.

The Israeli advance presents a challenge in the emerging deal to extend the Iran war ceasefire as Tehran wants any agreement to end fighting in Lebanon, too. Qatar called it a "dangerous escalation." Germany's foreign minister said it was cause for serious concern, according to German press agency dpa. There was no comment by the United States.