Arab News

The US launched a third consecutive night of strikes on Iranian military targets, as Iran retaliated with attacks on UAE-flagged tankers in the Strait of Hormuz and US bases in Jordan and Bahrain. President Trump reversed his plan for a 20% Hormuz toll, replacing it with Gulf investment deals, while Israel and Lebanon resumed talks in Rome focused on an IDF withdrawal pilot. Houthi rebels threatened a siege on Saudi Arabia after strikes on Sanaa airport, and oil prices rose amid the ongoing closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

President Trump canceled a third night of strikes on Iran and announced that a deal framework had been approved, though Tehran said no final decision had been made. The IDF intercepted a drone near Metula and is poised for an offensive against Hezbollah in Nabatieh, southern Lebanon. Overnight Israeli strikes hit Gaza, and the UN reported record settler violence in the West Bank.

An armed infiltrator in Hezbollah uniform was shot dead by IDF troops after crossing the Lebanon border near Ramim Ridge and opening fire. Israel issued a sweeping evacuation warning for the city of Tyre, including the Christian quarter for the first time, and carried out strikes that killed at least eight. A US Army Apache helicopter crashed near the Strait of Hormuz; both pilots were rescued. Six countries announced new sanctions targeting Israeli settler networks in the West Bank, and France banned Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich.

Israel and Iran announced a mutual halt to direct attacks on June 8, following a night of ballistic missile exchanges and Israeli airstrikes on Iranian air defense and petrochemical targets. US President Trump pressed both sides to de-escalate. Israel stressed operations against Hezbollah in Lebanon will continue. Houthi rebels declared a renewed Red Sea blockade and fired missiles at Israel.

An Israeli airstrike killed a Lebanese army general and two soldiers in southern Lebanon, which the IDF said was under review after the vehicle entered an active combat zone without coordination. In the Gulf, the US and Iran continued to exchange fire, with US forces striking Iranian radar sites and Iran launching ballistic missiles at US bases in Kuwait and Bahrain. In the West Bank, a settler rampage in Huwara left nine Palestinians wounded, and an IDF soldier was filmed beating two men. The Pentagon reportedly raised its threat assessment of Israeli spying on the US to the highest level.

Capt. Eitan Shmuel Lemberg, 21, was killed by a Hezbollah anti-tank missile in southern Lebanon, hours after Hezbollah formally rejected a US-brokered ceasefire accepted by Israel and Lebanon. The IDF struck Hezbollah infrastructure in response, while overnight strikes in Gaza killed senior Hamas security officials. The US Embassy in Jerusalem issued a security alert urging increased caution across the Middle East.

Israel and Lebanon agreed to renew their ceasefire and create pilot zones free of Hezbollah control, while President Trump suggested an Iran deal could be reached by the weekend despite Tehran denying progress. The US House passed a symbolic war powers resolution to limit Trump’s authority on Iran, and Kuwait released CCTV footage of the deadly Iranian drone strike on its airport.

The US struck Iranian military sites in Qeshm and Goruk, prompting an IRGC retaliatory strike on a US air base. An IDF soldier was killed and three wounded in a Hezbollah drone attack in southern Lebanon. Sirens sounded in Tiberias for the first time since the ceasefire. A car-ramming attack in the West Bank injured two teenagers. President Trump said Iran 'really wants' a deal and claimed an agreement would bar nuclear weapons.

Hamas confirmed the death of its military chief Mohammed Odeh in an Israeli strike, while the IDF ordered the evacuation of Tyre, southern Lebanon's largest city, and struck over 150 Hezbollah targets. US-Iran negotiations stalled, with the White House denying reports of a draft deal, and Iran claiming the Strait of Hormuz could reopen within a month if terms are agreed. A fire at a kosher supermarket in London's Golders Green was blamed on an electrical fault.

US forces struck Iranian missile sites and mine-laying boats near Bandar Abbas in self-defense, while Prime Minister Netanyahu ordered the IDF to intensify strikes against Hezbollah after a surge in drone attacks. US-Iran talks continue in Qatar, but Tehran warns that an Israeli strike on Beirut would jeopardize negotiations.

Hezbollah launched multiple explosive-drone attacks on Israeli positions along the Lebanon border on Friday, with the IDF confirming several impacts inside Israeli territory and a serious security incident involving casualties. Israeli strikes across southern Lebanon killed at least 11 people, including paramedics, according to Lebanese health authorities. Meanwhile, a draft US-Iran ceasefire framework circulated by Saudi media would pause hostilities and open the Strait of Hormuz but explicitly excludes the nuclear file, as Iran rejects uranium export demands and asserts expanded maritime claims.

US House Republicans abruptly delayed a vote on a war powers resolution that would have limited President Trump’s authority to strike Iran, as the administration sanctioned nine Hezbollah-linked Lebanese officials. On the ground, the IDF killed two armed suspects approaching the Israel-Lebanon border, while an Israeli strike on a Civil Defense center in Hanaweih killed four paramedics. Diplomatic signals between Washington and Tehran continued, with both sides citing progress but stuck on uranium enrichment and Hormuz tolls.

US and Iranian forces exchanged fire in the Strait of Hormuz late Thursday, with the US striking Qeshm port and Bandar Abbas after Iran attacked US Navy destroyers. President Trump called the US strikes a 'love tap' and insisted the ceasefire remains in effect, while Iran accused the US of violating the truce. The UAE reported intercepting a separate missile and drone attack early Friday. In Lebanon, the IDF confirmed killing Hezbollah Radwan commander Ahmed Ali Balout, and Hezbollah launched rockets and mortars at Israeli troops. Gaza ceasefire talks remain stalled over Hamas disarmament.

President Trump suspended Project Freedom naval escorts in the Strait of Hormuz after Saudi Arabia denied US access to its airspace and bases, while the IDF struck Beirut’s Dahieh suburb targeting a senior Hezbollah commander and a Hezbollah drone seriously wounded an Israeli soldier in southern Lebanon. Israel-Lebanon talks are set to resume in Washington, and France moved its aircraft carrier to the Red Sea for a potential Hormuz mission.

Hezbollah launched multiple rocket and drone attacks on Israeli forces in southern Lebanon on May 2, with no IDF casualties reported, while the IDF struck over 70 military structures and 50 Hezbollah infrastructure sites in the past day. The US announced the withdrawal of 5,000 troops from Germany amid a diplomatic rift over the Iran war, and Spain demanded the release of a citizen detained during an Israeli raid on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla. A senior Iranian official warned that conflict with the US is 'likely' to restart after President Trump rejected Tehran's latest proposal.