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The EU’s top diplomat urged calm on Monday after Iran and Israel traded strikes, testing the fragile truce and threatening to drag the Middle East region back into war.
“Overnight, we have seen escalation again,” Kaja Kallas said.
I think the region does not need an escalation, but actually that parties sit down to a negotiation table and agree.”
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Stocks in Asia fell sharply and oil prices rose early on Monday after Iran fired missiles at Israel and after heavy losses on Wall Street.
At 9.53am (0053 GMT) Japan’s Nikkei 225 was off 3.41% while South Korea’s Kospi was down 6.81%.
Brent crude was up 2.4% at $95.32 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate was 2.3% higher at $92.59, AFP reports.
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Strait of Hormuz to reopen with transit fee, says Iranian envoy
The strait of Hormuz will be opened but under new conditions to be set by Iran and Oman, including a transit fee, Iran’s ambassador to Moscow has been quoted as saying.
The US-Israeli war on Iran has largely cut oil flows via the strait, and although several tankers have managed to leave the Gulf recently, oil and liquefied natural gas flows are still severely constrained.
“Of course, this strait will be open, but with new conditions to be determined by the Iranian and Omani authorities,” ambassador Kazem Jalali told the Russian newspaper Izvestia in an interview published on Monday, cited by Reuters. He said:
We understand that Iran and Oman provide certain services related to this strait. And fees will be charged for those services.”
Iran has said a permanent peace deal should allow it to charge fees for ships passing through the strait, which would vary depending upon the type of ship, its cargo and prevailing conditions.
That position is vehemently opposed by Donald Trump, who US warned Oman in late May not to get involved in any effort with Iran to impose a toll. The US treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, said Oman’s ambassador had told him there were no plans to impose such tolls.
Monday marks the 100th day of the Iran war, launched on 28 February when Israel and the United States killed supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and other senior Iranian leaders.
The war raged until reaching a nominal ceasefire on 8 April, but a permanent end to the hostilities have been challenged by Iran’s chokehold on the strait of Hormuz – through which a fifth of all oil and natural gas usually passes – as well as fighting between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon.
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An Agence France-Presse journalist has reported hearing an explosion over Jerusalem as Israel said a new wave of Iranian missiles was incoming.
The Israeli army wrote on Telegram it had “identified missiles launched from Iran” and was working to intercept the threat. It urged the public to take shelter.
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Israel’s rescue services say there are no reports of casualties or impacts from the missile launch from Yemen.
The Israeli military, meanwhile, has updated its guidelines for civilians, limiting large gatherings and cancelling school across the country as the conflict escalates.
It is the first time school has been cancelled across Israel since the earlier round of fighting with Iran in April, the AP reports, although schools in Israel’s northern border area had been closed for much longer due to the threat of fire from Hezbollah.
British foreign secretary Yvette Cooper has called for restraint amid the elevated hostilities in the Middle East.
She posted on X earlier in the day:
The resumption of conflict between Iran and Israel is in no one’s interest. Both sides must show restraint and de-escalate immediately.
Negotiations must continue towards the lasting settlement that we all need, for peace and stability in the region, and for the full restoration of global trade.”
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Missile launched at Israel from Yemen, says IDF
The Israeli military says a missile has been launched from Yemen towards Israeli territory and that its aerial defence systems are operating to intercept the threat.
Its post on Telegram didn’t give details of the missile’s trajectory.
Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis have attacked Israel before, first entering the Iran war in late March with a missile launch at Israel, just hours after US secretary Marco Rubio said Washington expected to conclude military operations within “weeks, not months”.
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The Saudi civil defence is now saying “the danger has passed” in Al-Kharj governorate, after issuing an alert shortly before warning of potential danger.
Saudi Arabia’s civil defence is saying a warning has been issued in the Al-Kharj governorate to alert of potential danger.
The area is home to the Prince Sultan air base that hosts US forces.
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Israel launches airstrikes on Iranian targets as blasts heard in several cities
Here’s a fuller account of the latest strikes, care of the Associated Press:
Israel launched airstrikes early on Monday targeting central and western Iran in response to missile fire from Tehran, attacks that threatened to drag the wider Middle East back into a regional war.
Iranian state TV reported the sound of explosions being heard in Isfahan, Karaj, Tabriz and Tehran, without immediately elaborating.
A witness in Tehran described hearing at least one large blast somewhere to the west of the country’s capital city.
Iran closed the airspace around Tehran’s Imam Khomeini International airport – the main airfield in the country – after the Israeli attack.
Iranian officials offered no details on what had been struck, nor any damage information.
Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard said Israel used air-launched ballistic missiles in its attack, without elaborating.
The Israeli military at dawn in Iran issued a short statement as the strikes started: “A short while ago, the Israeli Air Force struck military targets belonging to the Iranian terror regime in western and central Iran.” It did not elaborate.
The White House did not respond to messages about the strikes and whether they were done in coordination with the US.
As reported earlier, US officials said Donald Trump earlier spoke with Benjamin Netanyahu and urged the Israeli prime minister not to immediately retaliate over Iran’s missile launches against Israel, which upended the fragile ceasefire in place since April.
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Iran’s Revolutionary Guard is saying Israel has carried out attacks on targets in Iran using air-launched ballistic missiles, the offical Irna news agency is being quoted as saying.
Iranian state television is reporting the sound of explosions being heard in the cities of Tehran, Isfahan and Tabriz.
It came as the Israeli military said it carried out airstrikes early on Monday targeting western and central Iran after Tehran earlier launched missiles at Israel in apparent retaliation over attacks on Beirut.
Iran has reportedly closed the airspace around Tehran’s Khomeini international airport – the country’s main airfield – after the Israeli strikes.
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Explosions have reportedly been heard in several Iranian cities including Karaj.
Israel strikes Iranian military targets, says IDF
The Israeli military is saying it has struck military targets of the Iranian regime in western and central Iran.
The strikes happened “a short while ago”, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) posted on Telegram, adding that details would follow.
We’ll bring you more on this as it comes to light.
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Just recapping now, Iran has long said that any peace deal with the US will depend on a ceasefire also holding in Lebanon, which Israel invaded in March in pursuit of Iran-backed Hezbollah fighters who fired rockets and drones across the border in solidarity with Tehran.
But on Sunday Israel launched strikes in the Beirut area for the first time since the US announced a truce plan for Lebanon last week – which Hezbollah firmly rejected.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said it later targeted Israel’s Ramat David air base, near Nazareth.
The Israeli military said it identified missiles launched from Iran and had intercepted them.
Donald Trump – who was spending the weekend at his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey – spoke with Benjamin Netanyahu by phone for a little under half an hour, Reuters reports an Israeli official as saying, without giving further details.
The Israeli military issued a brief statement shortly after midnight local time citing chief of staff Eyal Zamir as saying his forces had not been directed to attack Iran so far but would do so “with determination” once given the order.
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Donald Trump believes he has convinced Benjamin Netanyahu to hold off on retaliating against Iran after its missile attacks against Israel, according to a senior US official.
The Associated Press quotes the official as confirming Trump had called Netanyahu and urged him not to immediately retaliate over Iran’s launches against Israel, which have shattered the fragile ceasefire in place since April.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Trump “got Bibi to hold off for the time being”, referring to Netanyahu’s nickname.
The official would not offer any other details of the call and there was no immediate comment from Netanyahu’s office, the report said.
Iran’s ballistic missile attack came soon after Israeli strikes on southern Beirut targeting infrastructure of the Tehran-backed Hezbollah.
Iran warned that strikes on the Lebanese capital would renew full-scale war across the Middle East, even as Pakistan and other mediators try to restart talks between Tehran and Washington.
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Iran’s Revolutionary Guard has targeted the headquarters of “terrorist groups” in Iraqi Kurdistan, state media is reporting.
The Iranian government accuses the armed Kurdish parties – which have camps in neighbouring Iraq’s Kurdistan region – of serving western or Israeli interests and designates them as terrorist organisations.
Since the start of the Middle East war, and despite the ceasefire announced in April, Iran has repeatedly struck these groups, although their posts and camps have largely been evacuated, says Agence France-Presse.
Iran’s official Irna news agency posted on Telegram on Monday that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps “targeted the headquarters of terrorist groups in Sulaymaniyah, Iraq”.
Trump tells Netanyahu not to retaliate against Iran - report
Donald Trump has told Benjamin Netanyahu not to retaliate against Iran’s missile attack and to allow more time for diplomacy, Axios is reporting.
The news site quotes a senior US official as saying the US president told the Israeli prime minister on a call to hold off on because “we are close to doing something good in terms of a deal”.
Netanyahu pushed back but ultimately “pseudo agreed” to stand down, according to the unnamed official.
Sunday’s call was calmer than last week’s heated exchange and Trump did not raise his voice at Netanyahu, Axios quotes the official as saying, adding:
We think the president bought a little bit of time. He is pretty adamant that we are close to a deal with Iran. I don’t think anything is imminent in terms of an Israeli strike.”
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The US embassy in Jerusalem will be shut on Monday because of “the current security situation in Israel”.
The embassy said in a security alert posted on X that its branch office in Tel Aviv would also be closed and directed all American government employees and their families to “shelter in place” until further notice.
Oil prices jump after Iran strikes at Israel
Oil prices have climbed more than 3% amid the escalation in the Middle East war.
In early trading on Monday after the weekend, the price of Brent crude – the international benchmark – rose 3.29% to $96.15 a barrel.
Its US equivalent, West Texas Intermediate (WTI), was up 3.25% to $93.48 a barrel.
Iran fired missiles at Israel in apparent retaliation after Israel hit Beirut’s southern suburbs earlier in the day, with the Iranian barrage the first since the fragile truce took effect in early April.
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Trump says Netanyahu will have to accept US deal with Iran because 'I call the shots' – report
Donald Trump has said Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu will have no choice but to accept whatever deal the US negotiates with Iran because “I call the shots”, according to a report.
“He won’t have any choice,” the Financial Times quoted Trump as saying. “I call the shots. I call all the shots. He [Netanyahu] doesn’t call the shots.”
The US president was speaking shortly after Iran launched missiles at Israel in the most serious escalation of the war since the April ceasefire.
Trump has reportedly said he will tell Netanhayu not to strike back against Iran so as not to jeopardise a possible peace deal with Tehran.
Trump told the Financial Times that Iran’s strikes had not changed his desire to conclude the US-Iran negotiations.
“It’s not going to have any impact on the deal,” he was quoted as saying.
We’ll see how it ends up. But they [the missile strikes on Israel] were attacks that did not kick at all. It’s one of those things that’s been going for 3,000 years, or 47 years, depending on how you count.”
He did not, however, sound upbeat about the prospects of an imminent deal, saying in the interview: “I think the deal is going on. We’ll see what happens.”
Asked what would happen if any such deal failed “on its merits”, Trump told the FT he would consider a commando raid on Iran:
It means [one of] two things. Number one, it would mean that possibly we would go in and take care of the rest of the place that we didn’t take care of militarily. Or it would just mean that we would keep the blockade on Iran because the blockade has been probably more powerful than any attack that was ever made on that country.”
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Tehran suspends flights at international airport - reports
Tehran’s international airport has suspended all incoming flights after Iran’s missile strikes on Israel, according to local media.
“The civil aviation authority announced the suspension of all flights bound for the airport until further notice,” said the Iranian news agency Mehr said, cited by AFP.
It is the latest closure for Khomeini international airport, which is one of two serving the Iranian capital and re-opened only in April after being shut for weeks over the Middle East war.
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The Israeli government’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) said it is closing all crossings into Gaza after the missile attack by Iran.
“Following the missile attacks launched by Iran against the State of Israel, a number of necessary security measures have been implemented, including the closure of the crossings into the Gaza Strip, among them the Kerem Shalom Crossing and the Rafah Crossing, until further notice,” a statement posted on social media said.
Iran’s top diplomat Abbas Araghchi discussed the latest events in the region on Sunday night with his counterparts in Britain, France, and Turkey, as well as with Qatar’s leader and Pakistani mediators.
The separate conversations focused on Iran’s response to Israel’s “repeated violations of the ceasefire in Lebanon”, his ministry said in a brief statement to AFP.
The telephone calls, reported by the IRNA news agency citing the Iranian foreign ministry, came as Iran launched salvoes of missiles at Israel after an Israeli strike on Beirut’s southern suburbs.
Araghchi spoke to Qatar’s prime minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, the French, British and Turkish foreign ministers, and members of the Pakistani team attempting to mediate an agreement between Tehran and Washington to end the Middle East war.
Summary of the day so far
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Israel struck the southern suburbs of Beirut earlier today despite its ceasefire agreement with Lebanon. The Lebanon health ministry says this attack killed two people and wounded 20 others.
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The Israeli military later said it identified missiles launched from Iran toward the state of Israel in an apparent retaliation. It was the first such bombardment since a fragile ceasefire took effect in early April. The Israeli military warned of a second barrage of missiles fired from Iran soon after the first.
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The Iranian missiles came shortly after Iranian lawmaker Ebrahim Rezaei warned in a post on X that Tehran will give a “painful” response to Israel’s attack on Beirut’s Dahiyeh southern suburb, after the Israeli military said it struck Hezbollah infrastructure in the area.
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Iran’s parliament speaker, Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf, issued a threat to US bases and assets in the region, claiming that the latest military action turned them into “legitimate targets.”
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Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said the Israeli military must stop its attacks on Lebanon and warned that if Israel escalates its offensives in Lebanon or responds to Iran’s actions, it will face “more crushing and regretful blows.”
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Donald Trump told Fox News when asked about the incoming Iranian missiles that “It’s certainly not going to help negotiations.” He added: “What I would suggest to Iran: You’ve shot your missiles, that’s enough. Get back to the table and make a deal.” When asked about Israel striking Beirut earlier today, Trump replied: “I’m not happy about it.”
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The Israeli military vowed on Sunday to press ahead with its military campaign in Lebanon and said it would step up operations against Hezbollah.
“The (Iranian) regime is attempting to establish a new equation through direct attacks on Israeli territory in response to IDF operations in Dahiyeh,” military spokesman brigadier general Effie Defrin said, in a televised statement.
“We struck in Dahiyeh in response to Hezbollah’s relentless attacks on the communities of northern Israel. The IDF will continue to operate throughout Lebanon and will intensify its actions against the Hezbollah terrorist organisation.”
“The Iranian terrorist regime has made a grave mistake by once again choosing the path of terror,” Defrin said.
Barak Ravid, correspondent for Axios, said Trump told him during a phone call Sunday: “The Iranian missile fire didn’t hit anyone. I hope Israel doesn’t respond. If Bibi attacks them back, it’ll just drag on like it has for the past 47 years, or the past 3,000 years.”
“We’re very close to a final deal with Iran. It’ll be a good deal. I don’t want it to blow up because of what’s happening now,” Trump added.
He also said: “I’m about to call Bibi right now and tell him not to respond. Both of them have already done their part. Israel had its strike and Iran had its strike. We don’t need another one.”
Iran closed the airspace over the west of the country on Sunday after launching a salvo of missiles towards Israel in response to its latest strike on Lebanon.
“Due to safety and security assessments... the western part of the country’s airspace was declared closed until further notice,” said Majid Akhavan, the spokesman for the National Civil Aviation Organisation, in a statement carried by the news agency IRNA.
The Syrian Civil Aviation Authority has announced a temporary closure of its airspace for 12 hours, suspending operations at Damascus International Airport amid escalating tensions between Iran and Israel.
Iraq has also temporarily closed its airspace and suspended air navigation, civil aviation officials told Al Jazeera.
Iran’s military central command said Sunday that Israel’s latest strike on the southern Beirut suburbs had “crossed all red lines”, demanding a halt to its campaign in Lebanon.
“The Israeli army must stop its attacks on southern Lebanon and the suburbs, and if it expands its attacks to that region or responds to Iran’s action, it will face more devastating and regrettable blows,” said general Ali Abdollahi, the head of the Khatam al-Anbiya command, without directly mentioning missile salvos that Israel said it was intercepting.
Trump tells Iran: 'You've shot your missiles ... get back to the table'
Trey Yingst, a correspondent for Fox News, says he spoke with Trump following the reports of Iranian missiles launched at Israel.
“What I would suggest to Iran: You’ve shot your missiles, that’s enough. Get back to the table and make a deal,” Trump said.
“It’s certainly not going to help negotiations,” Trump told Fox News when told about the incoming Iranian missiles
When asked about Israel striking Beirut earlier today, he replied: “I’m not happy about it.”
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Mohsen Rezaei, the military adviser to Iran’s supreme leader, has posted on social media about the missiles launched towards Israel.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran had repeatedly declared that it would not tolerate violations of the ceasefire or aggression against Lebanon,” he wrote on X. “Tonight, the aggressors received their response. This response is a warning for them to cease their villainy; every new action will be met with a more crushing response and heavier costs.”
The Israel military says it has intercepted all missiles fired by Iran so far, multiple outlets are reporting.
Axios reported that Donald Trump has been briefed on the situation as Israel reports a second wave of missiles fired from Iran.
Barak Ravid, a correspondent for Axios, said in an X post that an Israeli official told him Israel plans to retaliate to the Iranian attack.
Iran's Revolutionary Guards say Israel must stop Lebanon attack
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has said the Israeli military must stop its attacks on Lebanon and warned that if Israel escalates its offensives in Lebanon or responds to Iran’s actions, it will face “more crushing and regretful blows”, according to Reuters.
Israeli military warns of second barrage of missiles fired from Iran
The Israeli military has warned of a second barrage of missiles fired from Iran, shortly after it reported the first such salvo since a fragile ceasefire went into effect in April, AFP reported.
“An additional barrage of missiles was launched toward the State of Israel,” it said. “The aerial defense array is currently identifying and intercepting threats.”
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Israeli military says Iran launched missiles towards country
The Israeli military said it identified missiles launched from Iran toward the territory of the state of Israel a short time ago, adding that defense systems are operating to intercept the threat, Reuters has reported.
The military says its defense systems are working to intercept the missiles, Al Jazeera reported, adding that sirens have been activated in several areas.
It is the first such bombardment since a fragile ceasefire took effect in early April.
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Israel’s military said its police criminal investigation unit was investigating the killing of a Palestinian infant by an Israeli soldier in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
The military has acknowledged that seven-month-old Sam Fahd Abu Haikal was killed and his parents both wounded on Friday when a soldier opened fire on their car.
“Based on the findings of the preliminary examination, it was decided to open an investigation by the Military Police Criminal Investigation Division,” Israel’s military said.
“Upon its conclusion, the findings will be transferred to the Military Advocate General’s Office,” it said in a statement.
Lebanon health ministry says two people have been killed and 20 wounded in the Israeli strikes on Beirut.
The figure for the number of people injured was previously 11.
Iran’s deputy foreign minister Kazem Gharibabadi said regional governments were “not in a position to demand reparations”, responding to reports the US could use Iranian assets to compensate regional allies for war-related damages.
Gharibabadi added in a post on X that Iran’s assets were “neither war spoils for Washington nor a payment fund for its allies”.
A source familiar with the matter had told Reuters on Saturday the US will make Iranian assets available to Gulf allies to support rebuilding and repairs for future damage caused by Iran.
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The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) agreed on Sunday to a fourth increase in its oil output targets in as many months, despite the US war with Iran still preventing several of the group’s members from pumping more, Reuters reported.
The war has cut oil flows via the strait of Hormuz, creating the world’s biggest-ever supply crisis as key OPEC members including Saudi Arabia have been unable to supply customers in full since the end of February. The crisis for OPEC deepened when the United Arab Emirates left the organization after almost 60 years.
On Sunday, the seven members decided to increase targets by 188,000 bpd from July, OPEC said in a statement. This is the same as the June hike, which was adjusted down from monthly increases of 206,000 bpd in May and April to take into account the UAE exit.
Pete Hegseth dismissed concerns on the status of the US-Iran ceasefire while speaking to reporters.
“Of course it’s a ceasefire,” the US defense secretary said. He added that the US is “negotiating actively”.
“Things are happening, shipping is moving through,” he said. “Iran shouldn’t be shooting at it. And when they do, we take care of that as you would expect. But ultimately, we think a deal, a great deal, is likely coming soon.”
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Iran's top negotiator threatens US bases and assets in the region
The US naval blockade of Iran and its green light on Sunday for Israel to escalate attacks in Lebanon make US bases and Israeli assets in the Middle East legitimate targets, Iran’s top negotiator said in a post on X.
The comments from Iran’s parliament speaker, Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf, follow Israeli attacks on the southern suburbs of Lebanon’s capital, a stronghold of Iran’s ally Hezbollah.
“They are neither committed to a ceasefire nor believe in dialogue, and through the naval blockade and violation of agreements regarding Lebanon they showed that they only understand the language of power,” Ghalibaf wrote, referencing the US and Israel.
Ghalibaf then claimed the latest military action turned US assets and bases in the region “into legitimate targets”.
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Trump also said he and Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu remain on the same page during his Meet the Press interview, despite some disagreements arising over Israel’s military offensive in Lebanon.
“We get along very well,” the US president said. “We’ve been great comrades. We did a very, very big number on a certain country that was nothing but trouble for 47 years. I disagree with him on a couple of things.”
Earlier in the week, it was reported that Trump had angrily confronted Netanyahu over Israel’s threats to resume airstrikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs.
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Donald Trump also aggressively pushed back against claims that he broke a key campaign promise to keep the US out of new foreign conflicts.
“Well, well, first of all, I didn’t guarantee no war,” Trump said during the Meet the Press interview. “Why would I have built the strongest military in the world?”
He continued: “I didn’t promise anything. I don’t like these endless wars. This is not an endless war. We’ve been doing this for three months.”
Trump did in fact campaign on promises that he would end wars rather than start them. During his 2024 election night victory speech, he said: “I’m not going to start a war. I’m going to stop wars.”
Trump also defended his military efforts in Venezuela and Iran during the interview by claiming they will not be as long-lasting as the US engagements in Iraq and Vietnam.
“We’re there for a few months,” Trump said. “And the threat is largely over. Soon, it will be over. But you cannot let Iran have a nuclear weapon, or they will blow you up.”
Donald Trump called for more “surgical” strikes against Hezbollah in Lebanon and said he is not demanding the conflict be included in a peace deal with Iran, during his Meet the Press interview broadcast on Sunday.
“I’d like to see a more surgical attack on Hezbollah. I think it should be more surgical,” Trump said, according to a transcript of the interview recorded Friday. “I’d like to see Lebanon have a better life,” he added.
Asked whether he was demanding that Lebanon be included in the Iran deal, Trump replied: “No, no.”
“Not at all. I’m not demanding,” he said. “I think they’d like to see it, but I’m not demanding.”
Trump has said previously that he would like to “separate” the discussions on Lebanon from the negotiations on an agreement with Iran. However, Tehran wants to link the conflicts.
Iranian lawmaker says Tehran will give a 'painful' response to Israel's attack on southern Beirut
Iranian lawmaker Ebrahim Rezaei said in a post on X on Sunday that Tehran will give a “painful” response to Israel’s attack on Beirut’s Dahiyeh southern suburb, after the Israeli military said it struck Hezbollah infrastructure in the area.
“We will deliver a decisive and painful response to the Zionist regime’s attack on Dahiyeh,” he wrote, going on to say that “rabid dogs must be disciplined and put back in their place.”
“Look at the sky over the occupied lands tonight,” he added.
Gaza’s health ministry said in its latest update that at least 10 people were killed and 36 others injured in Israeli attacks across the territory over the past day.
The health ministry says 961 people have been killed in Israeli attacks since the supposed ceasefire between Israel and Hamas came into effect in October 2025.
It says that 72,971 people, many of whom were women and children, have been killed in Israeli attacks across Gaza since October 2023, when Israel launched its assault on the territory following the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken hostage.
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Israeli attack on southern Beirut killed at least two people - report
The Israeli attack on Beirut’s southern suburbs (see opening post) earlier has killed at least two people and injured 11 others, according to Lebanon’s state-run National News agency, citing a preliminary casualty count. We have not been able to independently verify these figures yet.
IDF orders residents of Lebanon's fifth-largest city to evacuate ahead of attacks
The Israeli military has ordered residents of the southern Lebanese city of Tyre, nearby “camps” (al-Bass and Zakuk al-Mufdi) and “surrounding neighbourhoods” shown on the map below to immediately evacuate in advance of attacks against the locations.
Avichay Adraee, the IDF’s Arabic-language spokesperson, issued the social media warning, claiming the attacks are being launched due to Hezbollah violating the ceasefire agreement.
International law experts say Israel’s warnings are inconsistent and often overly broad and open-ended. Sometimes there is no warning at all before the airstrikes. More than 1 million people have already been displaced by the renewed Israeli war on Lebanon, triggering a major refugee and humanitarian crisis.
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US says it destroyed two drones over strait of Hormuz
In a post on X earlier today, the US Central Command (Centcom) said it destroyed two Iranian drones “that threatened international maritime traffic in the strait of Hormuz”, hours after announcing it struck four other drones and coastal surveillance radar sites.
“American forces remain postured and ready to continue defending against Iranian aggression,” Centcom said in a short statement. It was the latest in a series of back-and-forth attacks that have strained the tenuous April ceasefire between Tehran and Washington and came amid stalled negotiations between the two sides, with neither apparently willing to make any major concessions.
Tehran effectively closed the strait of Hormuz – at least to countries it deemed “hostile” to its interests – soon after the US and Israel launched their war on Iran at the end of February. The US imposed a counter-blockade of ships using Iranian ports on 13 April.
Global energy prices have soared as a result of the effective closure of the strategic waterway, a crucial corridor for oil and natural gas shipments.
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Trump says he would not unfreeze Iran's assets before peace deal is done
Donald Trump had an interview with NBC News’s Meet the Press, which host Kristen Welker said took place on Friday.
In the interview, Trump said he would not unfreeze Iranian assets or lift any sanctions before a peace deal is reached. “Comes after,” he said. “Yeah. If they behave, if they do a good job, we start talking. Yeah.“
Trump also said that he was not demanding that Lebanon be a part of a short-term deal with Tehran.
The US president also reportedly said he wants to keep US troops in the Middle East until “completion” and that the US will seize and destroy Iran’s highly enriched uranium, much of which is believed to be stored extremely deeply underground.
He said the US and Iran are close to making a deal, something he often repeats despite major sticking points remaining between the two sides: notably Israel’s continuing war on Lebanon, Tehran’s nuclear programme and the status of the strategic strait of Hormuz.
“We’re very close to a deal, or I’m going to blow the hell out of them,” Trump told NBC News.
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Israel had already struck the southern suburbs of the Lebanese capital at least twice since the first agreement between Lebanon and Israel went into effect as part of the 17 April ceasefire, under which Washington sought to constrain Israel from striking Beirut in return for a halt in Hezbollah fire towards northern Israel.
Today’s strikes on Beirut are likely to derail US peace talks with Iran as Tehran has made it clear that Israel’s assault on Lebanon must stop for that conflict to end.
Despite being engaged in diplomacy with Lebanon, Israel is striking southern Lebanon and ordering mass evacuation orders on a near-daily basis.
Hezbollah, which has not been part of the direct negotiations with Israel, has fired rockets and drones into northern Israel and against Israeli troops in southern Lebanon as it rejects pushes for its disarmament and Israeli occupation of some of southern Lebanon.
Donald Trump angrily confronted Netanyahu over Israel’s threats to resume airstrikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs during a heated phone call last Monday, according to a report in Axios. It seems that the US president is, however, somewhat limited in his ability to influence Netanyahu’s military actions despite the US’s far superior military power.
At least 3,526 people have been killed in Israeli attacks on Lebanon since the start of the war on 2 March, according to the country’s health ministry. Israel’s renewed war on Lebanon was triggered in response to Hezbollah firing rockets at northern Israel after the US and Israel killed the former Iranian supreme leader in Tehran on 28 February.
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Israel strikes southern suburbs of Beirut despite ceasefire agreement with Lebanon
We are seeing reports of Israeli attacks on Beirut’s southern suburbs, Dahiyeh, with at least three explosions heard so far. The Israeli military claimed about an hour ago in a post on X that it was striking Hezbollah infrastructure in the Lebanese capital, without providing evidence.
In a joint statement, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Israeli defence minister Israel Katz said the Israeli military had struck “terrorist” headquarters in Beirut’s southern suburbs in apparent retaliation for Hezbollah firing toward northern Israel earlier. This is in apparent defiance of a US request not to attack Lebanon’s capital.
Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency (NNA), meanwhile, said the Israeli attacks on the southern suburbs, where there is strong support for Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed Lebanese militant group and political party, targeted two apartments in two buildings. There has not been any official confirmation of any casualties or injuries.
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