Lebanese president says Israeli escalation undermines ceasefire

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun condemned the latest Israeli strikes on his country, saying the “killing and destruction constitutes a dangerous escalation”.

“It effectively targets all ongoing efforts to consolidate the ceasefire and end the war,” a statement from the presidency said, after Israeli attacks in the south and east killed at least 18 people. 

‘None of them are returning’: Israel demolishes villages in occupied southern Lebanon

Israel’s leadership has promised to continue the military occupation of Lebanon in defiance of the US-Iran agreement, ‌which calls for Lebanon’s sovereignty to be respected.

In a statement on Friday, Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said Israeli forces would remain in southern Lebanon “from the Mediterranean coast ⁠to the heights of Beaufort”.

In an interview on Israeli television, Katz added that the most important military goal was to hold territory.

He said the Israeli military was destroying villages in the areas it occupied and would never allow people to return to their homes.

“The 200,000 residents who lived in the security zone are not returning. None of them are returning,” ​Katz said.

Netanyahu says Israeli army will stay in Lebanon ‘as long as necessary’

Israeli troops will stay in Lebanon “as long as necessary”, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.

“Israel will not tolerate attacks on our soldiers or our territory, and it will exact a very heavy price from Hezbollah for these attacks,” Netanyahu said in a statement after the military announced the deaths of four Israeli soldiers in Lebanon. “Israel will remain in the security zone in southern Lebanon for as long as necessary for the protection of the communities of the north.”

Defence Minister Israel Katz had also said the military would stay in Lebanon, adding it would respond “with considerable force” to any attack.

Beyond ending the hostilities in Lebanon, the agreement signed this week between Tehran and Washington calls for ensuring Lebanon’s “territorial integrity and sovereignty”.

Hezbollah lawmaker says Tehran told group talks with US hinge on comprehensive ceasefire

Lebanese Hezbollah ​lawmaker Hassan Fadlallah ​told Reuters that Iran had informed ​the ‌group that ⁠talks with the ‌United States could not ⁠continue without the implementation of a ​comprehensive ceasefire.

He called ‌on the Lebanese government to ‌reject any direct negotiations ​with Israel while Israeli attacks on Lebanon continue, ​and said Washington ​bore responsibility ​for ensuring Israel halted ​its attacks and implemented the terms of the agreement.

Iran says it will waive fees for crossing Hormuz Strait during 60-day negotiation period

⁠Iran’s Strait ​of Hormuz body ​said it would waive planned fees to use ​the ‌strait during ⁠a 60-day negotiation period under the ‌memorandum of understanding signed with the ⁠United States this week.

Ships seeking passage through ​the strait while ‌the interim agreement is in force must submit transit ‌requests at least 48 hours ​before arrival, Iran’s Persian Gulf Strait Authority said in a ​notice.

Iran would waive ​fees for security, ​safety, environmental services and related insurance ​during the period, while requiring vessels to coordinate routes and transit times in advance ⁠due to areas affected by ⁠mines ​and to ensure safe navigation.

Israel army says hit 80 targets in Lebanon, killed ‘dozens’ of Hezbollah members

Israel’s military has said it struck more than 80 Hezbollah targets in Lebanon and killed dozens of its members in response to what it described as ceasefire violations.

“Overnight, the IDF (military) struck more than 80 command centres, terrorists, launch positions, and additional terrorist infrastructure sites in the area of Nabatieh and additional areas in southern Lebanon, within the Security Zone and beyond it,” an army statement said. 

“Furthermore, during the strikes, dozens of Hezbollah terrorists operating in the command centres were eliminated.”

Iran’s chief negotiator says US talks bound by Tehran’s ‘red lines’

Iran’s chief negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said that talks with the United States would remain bound by Tehran’s “red lines”. 

“As we have shown in the past path of negotiations, we are steadfast in fulfilling the conditions and red lines set, and in achieving the interests of the Iranian nation,” Ghalibaf said in remarks published by the official IRNA news agency. 

“If the enemy seeks to be excessive, we have proven that our fingers are on the trigger and we have no hesitation in giving a crushing response to the enemy.”

China’s UN envoy calls on Israel to stop violating Gaza ceasefire, Xinhua reports

China’s permanent representative ​to the ​United Nations Fu Cong called on Israel to stop ​violating ‌a ⁠ceasefire in Gaza, state ‌media Xinhua reported.

Speaking ⁠at an emergency UN Security Council ​session on the humanitarian ‌situation in Gaza, Fu said China ‌views Israel’s continual expansion of ​military occupation in Gaza with grave concern.

China calls on ​all parties concerned, ​particularly Israel, to ​fully comply with the ​ceasefire agreement and cease any reckless actions that violate it, according ⁠to the Xinhua report.

Israel says it struck ‘Hezbollah targets’ in Lebanon’s Beqaa Valley

Israel’s military said it had struck Hezbollah targets in eastern Lebanon after four of its soldiers were killed in fighting with Shiite group Hezbollah.

“A short time ago, in response to repeated ceasefire violations by Hezbollah, which continues to prepare and carry out terrorist attacks against Israeli soldiers, the army struck Hezbollah infrastructure sites in the Beqaa Valley,” the military said in a statement.

Israeli air strikes on southern Lebanon kill at least 18 people after four Israeli soldiers killed

The number of people killed by Israeli strikes on ​southern Lebanon has risen to at least 18, Lebanon’s health ministry said.

The ​Lebanese health ‌ministry said intensive airstrikes since midnight had hampered rescue ⁠and evacuation efforts, reporting a preliminary toll of 18 dead and 33 wounded that was expected to rise.

Residents and ‌Lebanese media said air strikes and shelling hit several towns in the Nabatieh ⁠district overnight and into early Friday, in what Lebanon’s state news agency NNA described as one of the heaviest bombardments in recent weeks.

Israel ​said the strikes targeted what it described as Hezbollah operatives ‌and infrastructure across several areas of southern Lebanon and were carried out in response to repeated ceasefire violations by the Iran-backed group.

Hezbollah said its fighters ambushed an Israeli ‌force advancing near Ali al-Taher hill in southern Lebanon, destroying three Merkava tanks with guided missiles and targeting troops with ​rocket and artillery fire. The group said clashes were ongoing.

Far-right Israeli minister says ‘all of Lebanon must burn’ after four soldiers killed fighting in country’s south

Far-right Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said that “all of Lebanon must burn” after four Israeli soldiers allegedly advancing deeper into southern Lebanon were killed in clashes with Hezbollah.

“For every tear of an Israeli mother, a thousand Lebanese mothers must weep,” he wrote on social media.

No UN sanctions lifting on Iran without France’s approval, foreign minister says

France will ​not approve ​the lifting of United Nations Security Council (UNSC) sanctions on Iran ​unless ‌it is ⁠satisfied that talks ‌on Tehran’s nuclear programme meet its ⁠expectations, its foreign minister said.

Jean-Noël ​Barrot, whose ‌country is a veto-wielding member of the UNSC, ‌said there would be ​no stability in the region unless US talks with ​Iran resolved ​questions around Iran’s ​ballistic missile programme and support ​for allied militias across the region.

“We need a radical change of posture by Iran,” ⁠he said.

US must put pressure on Israel to stop its hostilities in Lebanon, French Foreign Minister Barrot says

⁠Israel must ​stop its hostilities in ​Lebanon and the United States must put pressure ​on ‌Israel, French foreign ⁠minister Jean-Noël Barrot said.

Israel said on ⁠Thursday it would not rule out carrying ​out attacks beyond ‌a so-called military control zone covering swathes of southern Lebanon where Israeli troops continue to operate.

Israel’s ground invasion of Lebanon in response to Hezbollah rocket fire has killed thousands of people and driven more than a million more from their homes.

Barrot, ​speaking to French ​broadcaster franceinfo, said that France ​was still working to hold an international conference to mobilise support for ⁠the Lebanese army.

Israeli military says four soldiers were killed in combat in southern Lebanon

Israeli strikes on southern Lebanon kill at least 15 people, state news agency says

 Israeli ​strikes on southern Lebanon killed at least 15 people, state news agency NNA said, while Israel said the attacks launched overnight were aimed at what it described as Hezbollah ​targets ‌in several areas.

Residents and domestic media said ⁠Israeli air strikes and shelling hit several towns in the Nabatieh district overnight and ‌into early Friday, in a bombardment that NNA ⁠said was among the heaviest in recent weeks.

The Israeli military said it had struck what it alleged were Hezbollah militants and infrastructure at several ‌southern sites.

The escalation comes a day after Israel published ‌a map showing an expanded military control zone in southern Lebanon beyond which ​it said it would not rule out attacks, throwing Wednesday’s US interim peace deal – which explicitly included an end to fighting in Lebanon – with Iran into doubt.

Israeli military says it struck ‘Hezbollah targets’ across southern Lebanon overnight and is continuing attacks

• Switzerland says US-Iran talks planned for Friday are off
• Hezbollah says destroyed Israeli tanks as Lebanon reports 3 killed
• Vance not flying Thursday night to Switzerland for Iran talks, says White House
• Israeli strikes on southern Lebanon kill at least 15 people, state news agency says
• Israeli military says four soldiers were killed in combat in southern Lebanon

Switzerland says US-Iran talks planned for Friday are off

Talks ⁠that had ​been planned for ​Friday between the United States and Iran at ​the ‌Burgenstock mountaintop resort ⁠in Switzerland will not ‌take place, according to a ⁠Swiss foreign ministry statement.

The announcement came ​after a White ‌House spokesperson said overnight that US Vice President ‌JD Vance had pulled ​out of a planned trip to meet Iranian negotiators ​in Switzerland on Friday ​to begin ​talks on implementing an ​agreement struck between Tehran and Washington to end the war.

Pentagon tells US lawmakers it needs $80 billion for Iran war and other bills, WSJ reports

The ⁠US ​Department of ​Defense needs $80 billion to cover costs ​from ‌the ⁠Iran war ‌as well as ⁠other non-war-related bills, Deputy Defense Secretary ​Stephen ‌Feinberg told lawmakers in phone calls ‌this week, ​the Wall Street Journal said on Thursday, ​citing people ​familiar ​with the matter.