At the moment baby Fares was born in the maternity ward of Jabal Amel hospital in Tyre, the city was still standing. Four hours later, Israeli air strikes hit buildings immediately beside the facility, killing four people, injuring 127 others — among them 39 hospital staff — and leaving a row of incubators cracked by the force of the blast. The scene that greeted journalists the following morning was one of chunks of concrete and twisted metal, downed electrical wires, and streets so empty that the beeping of damaged cars carried for half a block. A woman stood in tears outside an apartment building that had been reduced to half its former height.

"I live there," she said, then corrected herself: "Used to." The strikes took place even as a broader diplomatic shift was under way. Late on Monday, US President Donald Trump announced a partial ceasefire arrangement under which Israel would refrain from bombing Beirut in exchange for Hezbollah halting attacks on Israeli territory. Lebanon confirmed the terms; Israel confirmed it had intercepted two projectiles fired into its northern region after the announcement, while Hezbollah stated it had continued to engage Israeli forces in the south.

The agreement was fragile from the outset, and the violence around Tyre did nothing to suggest otherwise. The context behind the deal is partly regional.