13 hours ago
\nRubio holds talks in bid to restart Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire \u2014 report
\nUS Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke with both Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Lebanese President Joseph Aoun in hopes of achieving a “gradual de-escalation” between Israel and Hezbollah, the news agency Reuters reported, citing a US official.
\nThe US official told the news agency that Washington did not expect Israel to “absorb” Hezbollah attacks on its civilians.
\nRubio’s proposal foresees Islamist militant group Hezbollah stopping its drone attacks on Israel, with the Israeli army refraining from extending its military operation to Lebanese capital Beirut.
\nHowever, Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, who claimed to “guarantee” the Iran-backed militia’s commitment to a ceasefire, said Israel should be the one to stop “shooting first.”
\n17 hours ago
\nUK Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper called for Israel\u2019s military escalation in southern Lebanon to end, saying it “has killed and displaced civilians, destroyed infrastructure, and eroded space for diplomacy.”
\nCooper also called for Islamist militia Hezbollah to stop its attacks on Israel and disarm.
\n“All sides must respect the ceasefire and engage with negotiations in good faith,” she posted on her X account.
\n18 hours ago
\nIran intends to tweak US draft deal \u2014 report
\nIran will apply new amendments to the peace deal proposed by the US, which could potentially serve as a basis for a longterm ceasefire between the two countries, Iranian news agency Tasnim reported, citing a local source.
\nThe report also emphasized that the amendments do not mean Iran has accepted US President Donald Trump\u2019s proposal.
\nBoth Washington and Tehran have been signaling that the deal is near at hand, although details remain in flux. The US proposal reportedly includes Iran reopening the Strait of Hormuz and it also receiving some sort of relief in the financial sanctions against the country.
\n19 hours ago
\nLebanon’s Health Ministry says 8 people killed in Israeli strike
\nAn Israeli strike killed eight people in southern Lebanon, according to the country\u2019s health ministry.
\nAmong the victims are three women, the ministry said, with 19 other people being wounded.
\nThe news comes as Israel intensifies its military operation in Lebanon\u2019s south, with the Iran-back Islamist militia Hezbollah also launching drone attacks into Israeli territory.
\nThe fighting has escalated despite the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hezbollah being in place since mid-April, with both sides accusing the other of violating the agreement.
\nPrime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has recently vowed to increase strikes amid pressure from both Israeli society and Netanyahu\u2019s own far-right government.
\n20 hours ago
\nAs hostilities escalated again in Lebanon, German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul has called on Israel and Hezbollah to return to the ceasefire.
\nHe said the Israeli military’s “continued advance” into southern Lebanon is “a cause for great concern” and urged Israel to ensure that its attacks on Iran-backed Hezbollah do not harm civilians or civilian infrastructure.
\n“Any further escalation will only exacerbate the already tense situation and trigger new waves of displacement within Lebanon,” Wadephul warned during a visit to the United Nations headquarters in New York.
\nAcknowledging that Israel has legitimate security interests, Wadephul stressed that if civilians pay the price for a military escalation and parts of Lebanon become permanently uninhabitable, it would not make Israel any safer in the long run.
\nThe German minister also called for the Lebanese state, which is not a party to the conflict, to be strengthened to stabilize the country.
\nAccording to Lebanese official figures, more than 3,300 people have been killed and over 10,000 injured in Lebanon since fighting between Israel and Hamas resumed in March.
\n21 hours ago
\nAt least two Palestinians were killed and at least 10 were wounded in an Israeli airstrike on a packed Gaza cafe, according to health officials.
\nThe Reuters news agency reported that the cafe struck on Sunday was located at the emergency seaport in Gaza, a floating dock that was intended to be temporary.
\nThere was no immediate comment from Israel’s military.
\nSince October, a ceasefire has been in place between Israel and Hamas, the militant Palestinian group that governs Gaza.
\nBut Israeli airstrikes have continued, with Israel accusing Hamas of breaking the terms of the ceasefire by refusing to disarm.
\nHamas, for its part, accuses Israel of not withdrawing from parts of the enclave as per the terms of the agreement.
\nIsraeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last week said he was eyeing to control more of the Strip, while Defense Minister Israel Katz vowed that what he called the “voluntary migration” of Palestinians out of the largely destroyed Gaza Strip “will be implemented.”
\n21 hours ago
\nA vehicle rammed into a group of Israeli civilians in the occupied West Bank, according to Israeli authorities, injuring two teenagers.
\nThe Israeli military reported a “ramming attack in the area of Gush Junction” in the south of the occupied West Bank.
\nMagen David Adom, Israel’s national medical, ambulance and emergency service, said its medics had evacuated two teenage girls who were hurt in an attack to a hospital in Jerusalem.
\n“Paramedics are treating a 17-year-old girl in serious condition with injuries to her limbs and a 15-year-old girl in moderate condition with a facial injury, and evacuating them to Shaare Zedek Hospital,” MDA said.
\nAccording to the military, the suspected assailant was killed by an Israeli soldier.
\nPalestinian killed at barrier
\nIn a separate incident earlier on Sunday, a Palestinian man was shot and killed by Israeli forces at a concrete barrier separating the occupied West Bank from Jerusalem, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.
\nThe Palestinian Health Ministry in Ramallah said a 26-year-old, Imad Haroun Ashtiyeh, was killed by Israeli gunfire near the town of Al-Ram, north of Jerusalem.
\nAccording to a relative, Ashtiyeh had attempted to climb the barrier with a few other men to get to Tel Aviv for work.
\nA significant number of Palestinians from the West Bank attempt to enter Israel illegally, often by climbing over the barrier.
\nAccording to Palestinian officials, they are largely driven by economic hardship and the loss of work permits since the Gaza war in response to the Hamas attack in October 2023.
\n23 hours ago
\nFrench President Emmanuel Macron has said “nothing justifies the major escalation” in southern Lebanon, where Israel has expanded its ground offensive amid its war with Iran-backed militants Hezbollah.
\n“France will continue its support for the Lebanese authorities in their efforts to restore state sovereignty and the country’s territorial integrity,” Macron added.
\nMacron called for an end to the fighting there “once and for all” and said it was “essential” that the US and Iran agree on a deal to end the war quickly.
\n“This opportunity must be seized now. The priority must be to secure a ceasefire and the immediate reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, without any conditions and in accordance with international law,” Macron said.
\n05\/31\/2026
\nNetanyahu says Beaufort capture marks ‘dramatic shift’ in Lebanon offensive
\nIsraeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he has ordered troops to push further into Lebanon as part of the campaign against Iran-backed Hezbollah militants.
\n“I instructed the (military) to expand its ground maneuver in Lebanon,” Netanyahu said.
\nThe comments came as Israeli forces seized the 900-year-old Beaufort Castle, near the southern Lebanese city of Nabatiyeh, and raised the Israeli flag there.
\nNetanyahu described the capture as a “dramatic shift” in the fight against Hezbollah.
\n“The capture of Beaufort is a dramatic stage and a dramatic shift in the policy we are leading. We have broken the barrier of fear,” he said, adding that Israel would also take control of other areas previously controlled by Hezbollah.
\nThe Beaufort fortress is important because it is located on high ground and affords vast views over much of southern Lebanon.
\nIsraeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said soldiers will retain control of the site as part of a “security zone.”
\n“The campaign is not over yet,” he said. “We are all determined to crush Hezbollah’s power.”
\nThere were no immediate comments from Lebanon or Hezbollah.
\nIsrael’s latest advance follows heavy clashes with the militant group in villages near the fortress.
\nA ceasefire in the conflict has been in place since mid-April, but both sides have accused each other of multiple violations since then.
\nIsraeli forces previously seized the Crusader-built Beaufort castle, also known as Qalaat al-Shakif, in 1982 and held it until they withdrew from Lebanon in 2000.
\n05\/31\/2026
\nIran has ‘no trust’ in US, says negotiator Qalibaf
\nIran’s main negotiator, Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, says his country does not trust the US and will not accept any deal to end the war unless the rights of the Iranian people are guaranteed.
\n“There is no trust in the enemy’s words and promises. Our only criterion is to achieve tangible results before we fulfill our commitments in return,” he said in comments broadcast on state television.
\n“We will not approve any agreement until we are certain that the rights of the Iranian people have been upheld,” he said.
\nHis remarks came as Tehran and Washington continue to negotiate over a framework for an agreement to formally end the Middle East conflict and reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
\nOn Saturday, The New York Times and Axios media outlets reported that US President Donald Trump had sent Iran a new framework proposal with “tougher” terms.
\nTrump has stressed that his priorities include reopening the Hormuz shipping route and ensuring Iran can never develop a nuclear weapon.
\nIran, meanwhile, is seeking sanctions relief and the release of its assets frozen in banks abroad. Tehran has also called for Israel\u2019s invasion of Lebanon to be covered by any deal to end the conflict.
\nFrance’s foreign minister says he has called for an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council after Israeli forces captured the Beaufort Castle in southern Lebanon.
\n“I have requested an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council because, while we recognize Israel’s right, like that of all countries, to self-defense … nothing can justify the continuation of Israeli military operations in Lebanon and its ever-deeper occupation of Lebanese territory,” Jean-Noel Barrot said on the BFMTV channel.
\nThe foreign minister added that Israel’s incursion “is not only contrary to Israel’s commitments \u2014 given that a ceasefire has been in place in Lebanon since April 17 \u2014 but it is also contrary to international law.”
\nIsrael announced it had seized the strategically important medieval fortress of Beaufort earlier on Sunday, saying its flag had been raised over the citadel.
\nIt came as Israeli forces expanded their ground invasion against Iran-backed Hezbollah militants and issued a sweeping order for residents in large parts of southern Lebanon to leave.
\n05\/31\/2026
\nIsrael’s defense minister says troops have captured the strategic medieval fortress of Beaufort in southern Lebanon.
\nThe announcement came as Israel expanded its ground operations against the Iran-backed Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.
\nIsraeli forces previously seized the Crusader-built castle, also known as Qalaat al-Shakif, in 1982 and held it until they withdrew from Lebanon in 2000.
\n“Forty-four years after the heroic Battle of Beaufort, and on this day commemorating the soldiers who fell in the First Lebanon War (1982), our troops have returned to the summit of Beaufort and once again raised the Israeli flag there,” Defense Minister Israel Katz said on his Telegram channel.
\nLocated near the city of Nabatiyeh, the fortress is considered strategically important as it offers sweeping views over southern Lebanon.
\nIts capture follows days of intense fighting between Hezbollah and Israeli troops in nearby villages.
\nThere was no immediate comment from Hezbollah or the Lebanese government.
\nThe Israeli military said in a statement that it launched an operation a few days ago in the Beaufort Ridge with the aim of dismantling Hezbollah infrastructure and removing “direct threats to Israeli civilians.”
\nIsrael has expanded its ground invasion in southern Lebanon in recent days by sending troops across the Litani River, which previously served as a de facto boundary.
\nThe war between Israel and Hezbollah has killed at least 3,350 people and displaced more than 1 million in Lebanon. Twenty-five Israeli soldiers have been killed in the operation, as well as two civilians in northern Israel, according to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office.
\n05\/31\/2026
\nPresident Donald Trump said the only guarantee he had from Iran is that “there will no nuclear weapons,” without offering details.
\n“The one guarantee that I have to have is that there will be no nuclear weapons. They’ve agreed to that, and it was very interesting,” Trump told Fox News’ Lara Trump. She is the president’s daughter-in-law.
\nTrump reportedly held off on signing a preliminary agreement with Iran that would have started a new round of talks on Iran’s nuclear program among other things (see below).
\nTrump has repeatedly said the primary objective for the US war against Iran is to ensure that the country will never have a nuclear weapon.
\nBut Tehran has refused to hand over weapons-grade nuclear material over the course of the war that has now lasted three months.
\n05\/31\/2026
\nPresident Donald Trump asked for edits to an agreement with Iran before he signs off on it, multiple news media outlets reported on Sunday.
\nAxios reported that Trump asked to strengthen several points that are important to him, particularly around Iran’s nuclear material.
\nThe New York Times also reported that Trump’s changes involved toughening the terms of the deal. The president has sent the new framework back to be considered by Iran, the newspaper quoted officials familiar with the proceedings as saying.
\nThe Associated Press reported earlier this week that the agreement reached between US and Iranian negotiators would have required Iran to give up its stockpile of highly enriched uranium.
\nTrump has reportedly been seeking advise to make sure that the tentative agreement between US and Iranian negotiators was strong enough.
\nA CNN report earlier this week said the president has been fixated on ensuring the deal can be marketed as stronger than the 2015 Obama-era nuclear deal from which he withdrew during his first term.
\nWe’re looking at developments related to a possible framework for an end to the Iran war and the opening of the Strait of Hormuz.
\nMultiple news outlets reported earlier this week that US and Iranian negotiators had reached a tentative agreement to extend the ceasefire by 60 days and launch negotiations on Iran’s nuclear program.
\nBut the final text of the emerging document known as the memorandum of understanding is yet to be decided.
\nPresident Donald Trump met with top aides for two hours on Friday and the meeting concluded without clarity on the next steps.
\nThe New York Times and Axios have reported that the US president asked for several amendments to the document and has sent it back to Tehran for its consideration.
\nBefore the meeting, Trump had said on Truth Social that Iran must agree to never have a nuclear weapon or bomb, that the Strait of Hormuz be reopened for unrestricted shipping traffic “in both directions” and that any mines in the strait be “terminated.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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